Keysight command expert: Huge disappontment - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2021, 11:54:21 am
content: I've wanted to take some samples with a DMM.A 34410A. I used to do this 10 years ago. DMM us connected through USB.You loaded an excel plugin, clicked a button. It took a sample, and placed it in the excel sheet.It was great, you didn't have to do anything, setup was 1 minute.Go forward 10 years to today. I have a 34465A on my desk, and new version of excel.I tried doing the same. So I downloaded IO libraries suite. Then I downloaded the new command expert, because the old excel plugin is no supported anymore. Then the software downloaded some, because it didn't have the DMM plugin. We are at 1GB downloads already. I clicked on the plugin in excel... and it pops up a window where you have to manually input all the commands. Gone are the days, where you can just take a sample.Ah well, how hard it can be.CONnect. MEAsure. -> ERRORWTFWell, when you send the MEAsure command it wants the value immediately, and gives an error. Their own smart command editor doesn't know how to use their own instrument. But whateverCONnect. TRI* wait FETCh ->ERRORok, some more issues. Trigger source is bad. I tried setting up with the front panel, its not possibleCONnect TRIGger:SOUrce BUS *TRG FETCh -> OKSo I have a working script it only took me an hour to do this.I click in excel, it tells me. " Sequence completed successfully"Ok, where is my data? Nobody knows. For the last 2 hours I cannot figure out actually how to export the data to excel. The entire measurement shouldn't take more than 30 minutes including taking all the samples.I wrote python scripts faster, by sending commands to the open port via ethernet faster than this.I'm extremely disappointed. If you don't support the old tools, thats fine. But taking away functionality isn't. It shouldn't be more complicated than pressing a button and getting a reading. Daniel, if you are reading this, there is absolutely no excuse for this.

author: HKJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2021, 02:29:00 pm
content: You can try a 3 party tool:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/program-that-can-log-from-many-multimeters/It can log from the 344xxA series meters and can save CSV files for import into excel, you can also do analyzing and charting in the tool.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2021, 02:50:44 pm
content: The IO Libraries Suit should have a number of example scripts for all sort of environments. It is not a rocket science to create one based on an example. An Excel plugin is likely just a VBA script which you should be able to open on Developer mode and see what it does and where it puts data.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2021, 04:49:08 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on March 22, 2021, 02:50:44 pmI tried the examples.I opened the example called 3441x Digital Multimeter triggered Measure.Setup to run on the multimeter.Run it. Multimeter takes samples and:Nothing. Data goes to /dev/nullI also tried installing the old Intuilink. I remembered, I was using this tool.Of course it is crashing on the current version of Excel.Honestly, I just went ahead and wrote down a hundred or so reading by hand because I dont want to deal with this bullshit.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2021, 06:07:11 pm
content: Why didn't you just plug a USB stick in, enable data logging (to CSV file) and use manual trigger to start a measurement? That gives you a CSV file which you can import into Excel.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2021, 10:39:03 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on March 22, 2021, 06:07:11 pmI guess that could work next time.Although I had to setup 120 different measurements, and sorting them out afterwards is a bit of hassle.