About Command Expert

Keysight's Command Expert software combines instrument commands, documentation, syntax checking, command execution, and code generation all in one simple interface. Command Expert works with instruments that use Standard Commands for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI) or IVI-COM drivers.

Command Expert generates a SCPI.NET driver for each SCPI command set you install, for use in Visual Studio applications.

Command Expert Add-ons let you use Command Expert for easy instrument control in Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB, VEE, Visual Studio, SystemVue, and Excel.
 

New Features and Changes In Command Expert 1.3 Update 1

  • Command Expert is now supported on Microsoft Windows 8.1 Update 1.
  • Several defects have been fixed, including:
    • In some cases, users were not able to click on a node in the SCPI tree for certain instruments. This has been fixed.
    • The Python Add-on was not able to run sequences with return type System.Byte[]. This has been fixed.
    • Command Expert's instrument discovery scan would not work if NI's VISA was installed. This has been fixed.
    • Command Expert previously produced some incorrect results when using regional decimal and digit grouping symbols. This has been fixed.
    • In this release, you can import or enter data into Command Expert using regional symbols; sequences will always be saved using the period (.) for decimal and no symbol for digit grouping, which produces the expected results from instruments.
       

Compatibility

  • The Python Add-on is not supported on Windows 8.1 or on Windows 8.1 Update 1.
  • Command Expert 1.3 works only with SystemVue 2013.07 and above. Earlier versions of SystemVue require Command Expert 1.1 or 1.0.
  • The Command Expert sequence schema changed in Command Expert 1.2. If you are upgrading to version 1.3 from a version prior to 1.2, you will see the following compatibility issues:
    • Sequences created in Command Expert 1.2 or later cannot be opened in earlier versions of Command Expert, due to changes in the sequence schema.
    • Sequences created in previous versions of Command Expert can be opened in Command Expert 1.3 or 1.2. When you save them, they will be saved in the new format. If you want to maintain compatibility with earlier versions, keep a copy of your sequence that has never been opened in Command Expert 1.2 or later.
    • LabVIEW Sequence blocks developed in Command Expert 1.2 or later cannot be run with earlier versions of Command Expert. If you try to do this, you may see a "file not found" error message, rather than a descriptive error.
    • If you have applications that were developed in MATLAB, Excel, VEE, or LabVIEW with an earlier version of Command Expert, and that run sequences containing IVI-COM commands that use repeated capabilities, these applications may fail at run time unless you upgrade them. See Upgrading from Previous Versions to Command Expert 1.2 or Later in the Help documentation for instructions.
       

Supported Instruments

To see which SCPI instruments are supported, use the Manage Command Sets dialog box in the Command Expert application, or visit Instruments Supported by Command Expert

Command Expert also lets you control instruments using IVI-COM drivers.

Known Issues

Issue Workaround/Notes
If Internet Explorer 6 or below is installed, documentation for some commands will not display correctly in Command Expert. Install Internet Explorer 7 or above
When you install Command Expert on a PC with Excel, the Excel Add-on will only be installed for the current user. None; only the current user at the time of the installation will be able to use the Excel Add-on.
While installing Command Expert on 64-bit Windows 7, Windows sometimes displays a dialog box that says "This program may not have installed correctly."

Click the Cancel button in the dialog box that says "This program may not have installed correctly". The Command Expert install will finish without issues.

You can download a Microsoft patch that may correct this issue. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978637
Command Expert LabVIEW Add-on: after a reboot of your PC, the first time you drop a Sequence block, there is a long delay before the Command Expert window appears. This delay only happens the first time (after a reboot) that you drop a Sequence block.
Command Expert does not work with the NVIDIA nView Desktop Manager. If the nView Desktop Manager is running when you launch Command Expert, Command Expert will not respond to any mouse clicks. Disable nView when running Command Expert.
When in "streaming mode", the Infiniium 90000A :WAVeform:DATA? command returns streaming data. Command Expert only retrieves the first portion of the streaming data. None
VISA C/C++ code generation for return values that are of the format String Program Data and contain white space is incorrect. The "%#s" format string that is generated will only read until the first white space character, not until the end of the quoted string. Manually change the generated code.
If the Windows 8 On-Screen Keyboard is enabled and the Command Expert Excel Add-in is installed, then Microsoft Excel may be slow to shut down. Disable the On-Screen Keyboard.

 Last Updated: May 24, 2014