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Command-Line Interface: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search

Command-line interfaces process commands as lines of text to control computer programs and operating system functions. They have historically been accessed through computer terminals and are still used for some programming and maintenance tasks where graphical interfaces are not available. While graphical user interfaces are now more common, command-line interfaces can be easier to automate through scripting and are still implemented for many software systems and utility programs.

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36 views

Command-Line Interface: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search

Command-line interfaces process commands as lines of text to control computer programs and operating system functions. They have historically been accessed through computer terminals and are still used for some programming and maintenance tasks where graphical interfaces are not available. While graphical user interfaces are now more common, command-line interfaces can be easier to automate through scripting and are still implemented for many software systems and utility programs.

Uploaded by

gritchard4
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Command-line interface

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Screenshot of a sample Bash session in GNOME Terminal 3, Fedora 15.

Screenshot of Windows PowerShell 1.0, running on Windows Vista.

A command-line interface (CLI) processes commands to a computer program in the


form of lines of text. The program which handles the interface is called a command-line
interpreter or command-line processor. Operating systems implement a command-
line interface in a shell for interactive access to operating system functions or services.
Such access was primarily provided to users by computer terminals starting in the mid-
1960s, and continued to be used throughout the 1970s and 1980s
on VAX/VMS, Unix systems and personal computer systems
including DOS, CP/M and Apple DOS.
Today, users rely upon graphical user interfaces and menu-driven interactions.
However some programming and maintenance tasks may not have a graphical user
interface and may still use a command line.
Alternatives to the command line interface include text user interface menus (for
example, IBM AIX SMIT), keyboard shortcuts, and various desktop metaphors centered
on the pointer (usually controlled with a mouse). Examples of this include the Microsoft
Windows, DosShell, and Mouse Systems PowerPanel. Command line interfaces are
often implemented in terminal devices that are also capable of screen-oriented text user
interfaces that use cursor addressing to place symbols on a display screen.
Programs with command-line interfaces are generally easier to automate via scripting.
Many software systems implement command line interfaces for control and operation.
This includes programming environments and utility programs.

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