Features and Functions 2
34980A User’s Guide 67
• You can display a message on the front panel by sending a command
from the remote interface. The instrument can display up to 18
characters on the upper line of the front-panel display; any additional
characters are truncated (no error is generated). You can use letters
(A-Z), numbers (0-9), and special characters like “@”, “%”, “*”, etc.
Use the “#” character to display a degree symbol (°). Commas, periods,
and semicolons share a display space with the preceding character, and
are not considered individual characters.
• While a message is displayed on the front panel, readings from a scan
or monitor are not sent to the front-panel display.
• Sending a text message to the display overrides the display state;
this means that you can display a message even if the display is
turned off. In addition, pressing any front- panel key will clear the
text message.
Remote Interface Operation: The following command turns off the
front- panel display.
DISPLAY OFF
The following command displays a message on the front panel and turns
on the display if currently disabled (the quotes are not displayed).
DISPLAY:TEXT "SCANNING ..."
To clear the message displayed on the front panel (without changing the
display state), send the following command.
DISPLAY:TEXT:CLEAR
Front-Panel Number Format
The instrument can show numbers on the front-panel display with periods
or commas for the decimal point (radix) and thousands separator.
This feature is available from the front panel only.
• The number format is stored in non-volatile memory, and does not
change when power has been off, after a Factory Reset (
*RST
command), or after an Instrument Preset (SYSTem:PRESet command).
• When shipped from the factory, a period is used as the radix character
and commas are used for the digits separator (e.g., +1.234,56 VDC).
Front Panel Operation: Utility > MISC. SETTINGS > RADIX|THOUSAND SEPARATOR
