ASCII over TCPIP for Spellman eSL <STX>CMD,DATA, <ETX>

[jobaker]

I figured out how to use Labview to talk to a Spellman SL-series HV supply that has their new eSL ethernet option. It's the STX/ETX problem I've seen on some serial comms questions. Their SLMAN.pdf manual says to send ASCII format <STX>CMD,DATA, <ETX>.The trick was to use slash codes for ascii writes. I duplicated the slash code in/out to hex and normal displays for understanding.

I hope I save someone from reinventing the wheel. Enjoy!

[JB]

To facilitate the implementation of new commands, I would create a VI of this kind.

The use of an array for Data could be an alternative to the need to separate the data strings with a "," sign.

[jobaker]

😁 That's how I implemented it in the final driver. Concatenate writes, Scan from String to break out the important parts of replies. Great minds...

I wish I had figured all of this out for my previous Glassman driver. Similar issue. But that block diagram ended up really ugly, not very understandable. As a consolidated SET command, it was like the kitchen junk drawer coded as Labview. Spellman was a little better with individual commands.

Now I hear a rumor I may have to do it all again for an XP Power HV supply. The HV world needs to standardize command format or adopt SCPI. I'm just glad I started with OOP for the first one so I can work with a mix of supplies.