Hayes Command Set - Description

Description

The following text lists part of the Hayes command set (also called the AT commands: "AT" meaning attention).

The Hayes command set can subdivide into four groups:

1. basic command set - A capital character followed by a digit. For example, M1.
2. extended command set - An “&” (ampersand) and a capital character followed by a digit. This extends the basic command set. For example, &M1. Note that M1 is different from &M1.
3. proprietary command set - Usually starting either with a backslash (“\”) or with a percent sign (“%”); these commands vary widely among modem-manufacturers.
4. register commands - Sr=n where r is the number of the register to be changed, and n is the new value that is assigned.

A register represents a specific physical location in memory. Modems have small amounts of memory on board. The fourth set of commands serves for entering values into a particular register (memory location). The register will store a particular variable (alpha-numeric information) which the modem and the communications software can utilize. For example, S7=60 instructs the computer to "Set register #7 to the value 60".

Although the command-set syntax defines most commands by a letter-number combination (L0, L1 etc.), the use of a zero is optional. In this example, "L0" equates to a plain "L". Keep this in mind when reading the table below.

When in data-mode an escape sequence can return the modem to command mode. The normal escape sequence is three plus signs ("+++"), and to disambiguate it from possible real data, a guard timer is used: it must be preceded by a pause, not have any pauses between the plus signs, and be followed by a pause; by default a "pause" is one second and "no pause" is anything less.