lxi-tools - open source LXI tools
1. Introduction
lxi-tools are open source software tools for managing network attached LXI compatible test instruments such as modern oscilloscopes, power supplies, spectrum analyzers etc.
Features include automatic discovery of test instruments, sending SCPI commands, grabbing screenshots from supported instruments, benchmarking SCPI message performance, and powerful scripting for test automation. Both a commandline tool and a GUI tool are available.
lxi-tools rely on liblxi for all communication.
1.1 What is LXI?
LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI) is a standard developed by the LXI Consortium, an industry consortium that maintains the LXI specification and promotes the LXI Standard. The LXI standard defines the communication protocols for modern instrumentation and data acquisition systems using Ethernet.
Visit www.lxistandard.org for more details.
Please notice that lxi-tools is not affiliated with the LXI consortium - it is an independent open source community effort.
1.2 Motivation
To make better and simpler open source tools for managing network attached LXI compatible test instruments.
2. Usage
2.1 lxi-gui
The lxi-gui application provides some of the same features as the commandline tool and more but presents them in a modern GUI frontend.
SCPI mode - easily explore SCPI features of your instruments
Search for instruments - using standard broadcast discovery or mDNS
Screenshot mode - easily grab display screenshots from supported instruments
Benchmark mode - measure the message response performance of your instruments
Script mode - program your LXI compatible instruments in a powerful clean cut Lua script environment
Script mode in action plotting voltage levels from a DC power supply to line chart and CSV/PNG files
2.2 lxi
The commandline interface of the lxi application is described in the output from 'lxi --help':
Usage: lxi [--version] [--help] <command> [<args>]
-v, --version Display version
-h, --help Display help
Commands:
discover [<options>] Search for devices
scpi [<options>] <scpi-command> Send SCPI command
screenshot [<options>] [<filename>] Capture screenshot
benchmark [<options>] Benchmark
run <filename> Run Lua script
Discover options:
-t, --timeout <seconds> Timeout (default: 3)
-m, --mdns Search via mDNS/DNS-SD
Scpi options:
-a, --address <ip> Device IP address
-p, --port <port> Use port (default: VXI11: 111, RAW: 5025)
-t, --timeout <seconds> Timeout (default: 3)
-x, --hex Print response in hexadecimal
-i, --interactive Enter interactive mode
-r, --raw Use raw/TCP
Screenshot options:
-a, --address <ip> Device IP address
-t, --timeout <seconds> Timeout (default: 15)
-p, --plugin <name> Use screenshot plugin by name
-l, --list List available screenshot plugins
Benchmark options:
-a, --address <ip> Device IP address
-p, --port <port> Use port (default: VXI11: 111, RAW: 5025)
-t, --timeout <seconds> Timeout (default: 3)
-c, --count <count> Number of request messages (default: 100)
-r, --raw Use raw/TCP
2.2.1 Example - Discover LXI devices on available networks
$ lxi discover
Searching for LXI devices - please wait...
Broadcasting on interface lo
Broadcasting on interface eth0
Found "RIGOL TECHNOLOGIES,DS1104Z,DS1ZA1234567890,00.04.03.SP2" on address 10.42.1.20
Found "RIGOL TECHNOLOGIES,DP831,DP8F1234567890,00.01.14" on address 10.42.1.67
Broadcasting on interface wlan0
Found 2 devices
2.2.2 Example - Send SCPI command to an instrument
$ lxi scpi --address 10.42.1.20 "*IDN?"
RIGOL TECHNOLOGIES,DS1104Z,DS1ZA1234567890,00.04.03
To dump response to file simply do:
$ lxi scpi --address 10.42.1.20 "*IDN?" > response.txt
2.2.3 Example - Capture screenshot from a Rigol 1000z series oscilloscope
$ lxi screenshot --address 10.42.1.20 --plugin rigol-1000z
Saved screenshot image to screenshot_10.42.1.20_2017-11-11_13:45:47.png
Or using plugin autodetection simply:
$ lxi screenshot --address 10.42.1.20
Loaded rigol-1000 screenshot plugin
Saved screenshot image to screenshot_10.42.1.20_2017-11-11_13:46:02.png
2.2.4 Example - Capture screenshot and convert it to any image format
By default the format of the captured screenshot image is dictated by which screenshot plugin and instrument are in play. However, it is possible to write the screenshot image to stdout and pipe it directly to other tools for image processing.
For example, use ImageMagicks convert tool to automatically convert any screenshot image to JPG:
$ lxi screenshot --address 10.42.1.20 - | convert - screenshot.jpg
2.2.5 Example - List available screenshot plugins
$ lxi screenshot --list
Name Description
keysight-ivx Keysight InfiniVision 2000X/3000X series oscilloscope
rigol-1000z Rigol DS/MSO 1000z series oscilloscope
rigol-2000 Rigol DS/MSO 2000 series oscilloscope
rigol-dg4000 Rigol DG 4000 series function generator
rigol-dm3000 Rigol DM 3000 series digital multimeter
rigol-dp800 Rigol DP 800 series power supply
rigol-dsa Rigol DSA 700/800 series spectrum analyzer
rs-hmo1000 Rohde & Schwarz HMO 1000 series oscilloscope
siglent-sdm3000 Siglent SDM 3000/3000X series digital multimeter
siglent-sdg Siglent SDG 1000X/2000X/6000X series waveform generator
siglent-sds Siglent SDS 1000X/2000X series oscilloscope
siglent-ssa3000x Siglent SSA 3000X series spectrum analyzer
tektronix-2000 Tektronix DPO/MSO 2000 series oscilloscope (experimental)
2.2.6 Example - Benchmark instrument request/response performance
$ lxi benchmark --address 10.42.1.20
Benchmarking by sending 100 ID requests. Please wait...
Result: 24.7 requests/second
3. Installation
3.1 Installation using package manager
lxi-tools comes prepackaged for various GNU/Linux distributions. Please consult your package manager tool to find and install lxi-tools.
3.2 Installation using snap
Install latest stable version:
$ snap install lxi-tools
Install bleeding edge:
$ snap install lxi-tools --edge
3.3 Installation from source
The latest source releases can be found here.
To compile and install successfully from source you need to first install the following dependencies:
- liblxi
- libreadline
- liblua
- libgtk
- libadwaita
- gtksourceview
- bash-completion
Install steps:
$ meson build
$ meson compile -C build
$ meson install -C build
See meson_options.txt for which features to enable/disable.
Note: Please do no try to install from source if you are not familiar with using meson.
4. Tested instruments
The tools are tested to work successfully with the following LXI compatible instruments:
| Instrument | Working features |
|---|---|
| Keysight Technologies AWG 33612A | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Keysight Technologies DMM 34461A | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Keysight Technologies MSO-X 3024T | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Keysight Technologies MSO-X 6004A | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Kikusui Electronics PMX35-3A | [discover+scpi] |
| Rigol Technologies DG1062Z | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DG4062 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DG4102 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DG4162 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DL3021 | [discover+scpi] |
| Rigol Technologies DP831 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DP832 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DM3058 | [discover+scpi] |
| Rigol Technologies DM3068 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DS1074Z+ | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DS1104Z | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DS2302 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies DSA815 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies MSO1104Z | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies MSO2302A | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rigol Technologies MSO5074 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz HMC 8012 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz HMC 8043 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz HMO 1202 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz HMO 3054 | [scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz RTB 2004 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz NGE 100 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz NGM 202 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Rohde & Schwarz RTM 3004 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDG1032X | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDG2122X | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDG6052 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDS1202X-E | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDS1204X-E | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDS2304X | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDM3045X | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDM3055 | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SDM3065X | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Siglent Technologies SPD3303X-E | [scpi] |
| Siglent Technologies SSA3032X | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Tektronix TDS3034B | [discover+scpi+screenshot] |
| Tektronix MDO3024 | [discover+scpi] |
| Tektronix 4 Series MSO | [discover+scpi] |
| Tektronix 5 Series MSO | [discover+scpi] |
Notes:
- Feel free to add your instrument(s) to the list via GitHub pull request or simply create a GitHub issue reporting your instrument(s) and which features work.
- The lxi-tools wiki provides further information regarding test instruments, including known issues and SCPI commands.
5. Documentation
5.1 lxi
The lxi commandline tool is documented in its included manpages.
5.2 Lua script API
The lxi-tools Lua script API is documented here.
6. Contributing
lxi-tools is open source. If you want to help out with the project please feel free to join in.
All contributions (bug reports, code, doc, ideas, etc.) are welcome.
Please use the github issue tracker and pull request features.
Also, if you find this free open source software useful please feel free to consider making a donation of your choice:
7. Support
Submit bug reports via GitHub: https://github.com/lxi-tools/lxi-tools/issues
8. Website
Visit lxi-tools.github.io
9. Wiki
Visit github.com/lxi-tools/lxi-tools/wiki
10. License
This code is released under BSD-3, commonly known as the 3-clause (or "modified") BSD license.
11. Authors
Created and maintained by Martin Lund <martin.lund@keep-it-simple.com>
See the AUTHORS file for full list of contributors.
12. Sponsors
A big thank you to the following sponsors that have donated test equipment to support the lxi-tools open source effort:
- Siglent Technologies - www.siglent.com
- KIKUSUI Electronics Corp. - www.kikusui.co.jp