The set-device-offset command performs an inquiry write, typically not overwriting read-only data in the device, while write-device-offset does a standard write access. Note that not all device models support inquiry accesses.
Some devices, such as ones written in DML, provide a preferred byte endianness that data should be converted to. The command will convert to this endianness unless the -l or -b flags are used to select an alternate one.
Not all devices support accesses that span several registers or that accesses a register partially. (For DML 1.2 devices, such support must be enabled in the device when it is compiled. This limitation is planned to be removed in the next version of the language.)