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A command line interface is a method of interacting with the operating system or a program directly.
The Microsoft Windows command line is the Command Prompt. Just to make things confusing, the command prompt is actually the sequence of symbols that prompt the user to enter some information, and Microsoft decided to name their command line after this.
In Windows, the Command Prompt can be opened via the Start menu at Start > Accessories > Command Prompt or by choosing Run in the Start menu and typing cmd
. An equivalent to Command Prompt in linux is the Terminal.
Most programs come with both a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a Command Line Interface (CLI), although some just come with one of the two. You use these interfaces to interact with the program. For example, in Windows the GUI for the GLOSS system is an option in the right-click menu of a gloss file, but it can also be called from the command line with the gloss
command, whereas iTunes for example is purely a GUI.
For the rest of this page, all examples are taken from the Windows Command Prompt.
Command lines aren't clever. If you want to access a file using a CLI you had better already be in the directory of the file, or be pointing to it from where you are.
The current location of the CLI is indicated in Windows by everything before the > symbol
For example, if you wanted to gloss a file called glossme.xhtml.gloss
located in the folder C:\folder1\folder2\glossfolder, but the CLI was currently in the folder C:\folder3 then typing
gloss glossme.xhtml.gloss
would result in nothing happening since the CLI could not find the file. The problem could be solved by doing one of the following:
C:\folder3>
cd
command to move to the directory of the file. Type:C:\folder3>cd C:\folder1\folder2\glossfolder
C:\folder1\folder2\glossfolder>which indicates that the CLI is in the folder of glossme.xhtml.gloss
C:\folder3>
C:\folder3>gloss "C:\folder1\folder2\glossfolder\glossme.xhtml.gloss"
You have now seen how to navigate to a particular directory if you know where it is, or point to a particular file, if you know where it is.
You can also move 'one folder up' or see what files and folders are in the current directory, using the cd..
and dir
commands respectively
With some commands, if you're not sure what comes after the first 'gloss' or 'latex' bit, then typing -help
afterwards brings up a list of options.
There are many other commands for the CLI that may help you. Many beginners guides can be found on the web, the following links provide more info
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