netgpib package

A bunch of python modules and scripts for communicating with GPIB devices over TCP/IP networks are written. These files are collectively called netgpib package. This page explains the usage of the package.

[#whereIsIt Where is it ?]
[#WhatCanIdo What can I do with it ?]
[#Installation Installation]
[#Usage Usage]
- [#netgpibdata.py netgpibdata.py]

Where is it ?

On the 40m martian machines, the package is installed in /cvs/cds/caltech/scripts/general/netgpibdata/. This directory is included in $PATH by default.

The latest version of the package is in the 40m svn repository ( https://nodus.ligo.caltech.edu:30889/svn/trunk/getgpibdata/netgpibdata/ ). Actually, /cvs/cds/caltech/scripts/general/netgpibdata/ is a working copy of the repository. So you can type svn up to synchronize the directory with the repository.

What can I do with it

Here is the list of commands included in the package.

Command	Description
netgpibdata.py	Download and save data from a GPIB device. Optionally, it can plot the downloaded data.
plotgpibdata.py	Plot the data downloaded by netgpibdata.py
TFSR785.py	Perform a transfer function measurement with an SR785. Then download the results from it.
SPSR785.py	Perform a spectral measurement with an SR785. Then download the results from it.
resetSR785.py	Remotely reset an SR785.

Here is the list of modules provided by the package.

Module name	Description
netgpib.py	Provide a class to access a network-GPIB converter.
gpibplot.py	Provide parsing of the parameter files and plot functions.
SR785.py	A module containing SR785 specific functions for downloading data.
AG4395A.py	A module containing AG4395A specific functions for downloading data.
termstatus.py	A small utility class for showing status information on a terminal.

Installation

If you want to install the package in your computer, just copy or check-out the netgpibdata directory into somewhere. You may want to add this directory to your $PATH environmental variable. Of course you need to have [http://www.python.org/ python] installed in your system. The minimum version of python confirmed to work is v2.4. If you want to plot the downloaded data, you need [http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/ matplotlib] and [http://numpy.scipy.org/ numpy] modules installed. In most cases, these modules are available from your distribution's package system.

Usage

For all the commands listed above, you can get a quick help by invoking them with -h option. This will show a list of available options with some descriptions.

netgpibdata.py

Usage: netgpibdata.py [options]

Options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -f FILENAME, --file=FILENAME
                        Output file name without an extension
  -d DEVICENAME, --device=DEVICENAME
                        A GPIB device name. Default = SR785.
  -a GPIBADDRESS, --address=GPIBADDRESS
                        GPIB device address
  -i IPADDRESS, --ip=IPADDRESS
                        IP address/Host name
  --plot                Plot the downloaded data.
  --xlin                Plot with linear x axis
  --ylin                Plot with linear y axis
  --xlog                Plot with logarithmic x axis
  --ylog                Plot with logarithmic y axis

This command will connect and download data from a network-GPIB conversion box specified by -i option.BR The IPADDRESS can be either numerical ip address or a host name.BR The GPIB address of the device connected to the network-GPIB box is specified by -a option.BR}} {{{-f FILENAME}}} specifies the name of a file (without extension) to which the retrieved data should be saved.[[BR The downloaded data will be saved to FILENAME.dat and the measurement parameters will be saved to FILENAME.par.BR -d option specifies the type of the device connected to the network-GPIB box. Currently supported options are SR785 or AG4395A.BR