readstring statement

[DickHutchings]

How does the readstring statement pause the vb code until the sweep is done? It works fine I'd just like to understand it better. I was trying to figure out how to get the status of the sweep before I found out I didn't need to do anything. I was quite surprised. So how does it work?

Keithley2430.Write(":READ?")
        readString = Keithley2430.ReadString() 'InsertCommonEscapeSequences(Keithley2430.ReadString())

[Dennis_Knutson]

You should study the IEEE-488 standard. The talker will assert EOI when the data write to the output buffer is complete. A read waits for the EOI or until the timeout value is reached. A long measurement could exceed the default timeout so you may have to change that.

[DickHutchings]

I understand that the equipment waits for the sweep to finish before the readstring takes effect. What I don't know is what is causing my vb code to pause. I'm thinking it's something in the VISA that is telling my software to wait until the readstring is complete.

[Dennis_Knutson · Accepted solution]

As I said, a read will wait for the EOI or timeout.