User Interface : Command Line

User Interface : Command Line

With a command line interface the user interacts with the computer by typing commands .

An interaction with a computer using a command line interface usually follows these two steps :

The user types a command e.g. "dir".
The computer carries out the command and displays its results.

Here is an example conversation in MS-DOS®. The user first asks the computer to go to the directory "c:\apps\dtp". He then instructs it to start the program "word".

Examples of systems which use a command line interface are :

MS-DOS®
BBC Micro
Quest database

Advantages	Disadvantages
An experienced user who knows a package well can enter commands quicker than he could select options using lots of menus. Can be used on a computer which has very little memory and is slow.	It is very difficult to remember all the possible commands and exactly how they should be typed. Error messages are not usually very helpful.

Very few new computer programs are developed to use a command line interface.

MS-DOS® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004