# SCPI Differences

Migration Guide

- Migration Guide
- SCPI Differences
- SCPI Similarities
- SCPI Command Subsystem Comparison
- SCPI Programming Tools
- Setting Up the Oscilloscope in SCPI Programs
- Synchronizing Analysis with Acquired Data in SCPI Programs
- Querying Measurement Results
- Querying Waveform Data
- Waveform Load/Save Format Support
- Debugging SCPI Programs
- Example Programs for Common Oscilloscope Tasks, Old vs. New

The most significant SCPI programming differences in Infiniium 2026 are:

1. SCPI programming in Infiniium 2026 is a departure from earlier Infiniium oscilloscope software because it has a more fine-grained approach to mapping graphical user interface actions to SCPI commands. Individual actions in the graphical user interface are mapped to individual SCPI commands. This approach supports the SCPI Recorder tool where SCPI commands are recorded as you use the graphical user interface and can be played back or copied to remote programs. A good example illustrating the difference in this approach is that instead of having one `:MEASure:SOURce` command for all measurements, in Infiniium 2026 each measurement has its own source command, for example, `:MEASure:HORizontal:RTIMe:SOURce`. (This approach is similar to the FlexDCA software for sampling oscilloscopes.)

2. There are no commands at the root level. Instead:

   - Acquisition commands (run, stop, single, acquisition status, clear display) appear in the :ACQuire subsystem.
   - Autoscale commands appear in the :SYSTem subsystem along with other default setup and factory default commands.
   - Model and serial number queries appear in the :SYSTem subsystem.
   - Status register commands appear in the :STATus subsystem.

3. There is no :DIGitize command. Instead use :ACQuire:SINGle and *OPC (operation complete).

4. The :SYSTem:ERRor? query has a DIAGnostic parameter that causes the command that caused the error to be returned. This lets you check for errors less often, allowing programs to run faster, while still being able to identify the commands that cause errors.

5. Waveform data can be returned as 32-bit single-precision floating-point (float) values or 64-bit double-precision floating-point (double) values. The ASCii and WORD waveform data formats continue to be supported. The BYTE waveform data format is not supported.

   Float format waveform data is recommended because it has sufficient precision for captured and processed waveform data with half as many bytes as the double format. The number of bytes used for a waveform data point is important when saving or transferring deep memory waveforms. Float data can be easily imported into packages like NumPy or MATLAB.

6. Real-time eye diagrams are their own waveforms in Infiniium 2026. In earlier Infiniium oscilloscopes, commands that operate on eye diagrams use the eye source channel or waveform names.

7. There are Color Grade/Gray Scale memories in Infiniium 2026. In earlier Infiniium oscilloscopes, while you can read the color grade database values from the oscilloscope, they cannot be loaded back into oscilloscope memories.

8. There are no composite files that contain setups and data. However, there are document wizard files.

9. SCPI security is more strict in Infiniium 2026. The SCPI commands for moving binary files between the oscilloscope and the host computer are more limited in the locations that can be used (see SCPI Security in Infiniium).

10. In Infiniium 2026, there are common child commands that do not appear in the Interactive SCPI Command Tree or have their own descriptions in the programmer's guide (see Common Child Commands).

11. Commands for controlling waveform, grid, and results pane layouts and positions are completely different in Infiniium 2026.