Text-based user interface: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Vim-%28logiciel%29-console.png|thumb|300px|[[Vim (text editor)|Vim]] is a very widely used TUI text editor]]

In [[computing]], '''text-based user interfaces''' ('''TUI''') (alternately '''terminal user interfaces''', to reflect a dependence upon the properties of [[computer terminal]]s and not just text), is a [[retronym]] describing a type of [[user interface]] (UI) common as an early form of [[human–computer interaction]], before the advent of bitmapped displays and modern conventional [[graphical user interface]]s (GUIs). Like modern, bitmapped (or [[vector graphics|vector]]-based) GUIs, they can use the entire [[Electronic visual display|screen]] area and may accept [[computer mouse|mouse]] and other inputs. They may also use color and often structure the display using special graphical [[Characterbox-drawing (computing)|character]]s such as ┌ and ╣, referred to in [[Unicode]] as the "box drawing" set. The modern context of use is usually a [[terminal emulator]].

<!-- [[VisiCalc]] and the [[Emacs]] and [[Vi (text editor)|vi]] [[visual editor]]s are the earliest examples of TUIs. -->

== Types of text terminals ==

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Under [[Linux kernel|Linux]] and other [[Unix-like]] systems, a program easily [[graceful degradation|accommodates]] to any of the three cases because the same interface (namely, [[standard streams]]) controls the display and keyboard. See [[#Windows|below]] for comparison to Windows.

Many [[#See also|TUI programming libraries]] are available to help developers build [[Console Applicationapplication|TUI applications]].

== On ANSI-compatible terminals ==

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[[File:XFdrake.png|thumb|300px|Snapshot of 'XFdrake', a TUI used in [[Mandriva Linux]] to configure the graphical system]]

[[File:Btop screenshot.png|thumb|300px|btop - task manager utility for Linux and other unix-like OS]]

In [[Unix-like]] operating systems, TUIs are often constructed using the terminal control [[library (computer science)|library]] ''[[curses (programming library)|curses]]'', or ''[[ncurses]]'' (a mostly compatible library), or the alternative ''[[S-Lang]]'' library. The advent of the ''curses'' library with [[Berkeley Software Distribution|Berkeley Unix]] created a portable and stable API for which to write TUIs. The ability to talk to various [[text terminal]] types using the same [[API|interfaces]] led to more widespread use of "visual" Unix programs, which occupied the entire terminal screen instead of using a simple line interface. This can be seen in [[text editor]]s such as [[Vi (text editor)|vi]], [[Email client|mail clients]] such as [[pine (email client)|pine]] or [[mutt (email client)|mutt]], system management tools such as [[System Management Interface Tool|SMIT]], [[SAM (HP-UX)|SAM]], [[FreeBSD]]'s [[Sysinstall]] and [[web browser]]s such as [[lynx (web browser)|lynx]]. Some applications, such as [[w3m]], and older versions of pine and [[Vi (text editor)|vi]] use the less-able [[termcap]] library, performing many of the functions associated with [[curses (programming library)|curses]] within the application. Custom TUI applications based on ''widgets'' can be easily developed using the [[Dialog (software)|dialog]] program (based on [[ncurses]]), or the [[Newt (programming library)|Whiptail]] program (based on [[S-Lang]]).

In addition, the rise in popularity of [[Linux]] brought many former DOS users to a Unix-like platform, which has fostered a DOS influence in many TUIs. The program [[minicom]], for example, is modeled after the popular DOS program [[Telix]]. Some other TUI programs, such as the [[Twin (windowing system)|Twin]] desktop, were [[ported]] over.

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== Oberon ==

[[File:OberonScreen.PNG|thumb|300px|Screenshot of the desktop of an Oberon System showing an image and several text viewers]]

Another kind of TUI is the primary interface of the [[Oberon (operating system)|Oberon operating system]], first released in 1988 and still maintained. Unlike most other text-based user interfaces, Oberon does not use a text-mode console or terminal, but requires a large bit-mapped display, on which text is the primary target for mouse clicks. CommandsAnalogous to a [[Hyperlink|link]] in [[hypertext]], a command has the format <code>Module.Procedure ''parameters''&nbsp;~</code> canand beis activated with a mouse middle-click, like [[hyperlink]]s. Text displayed anywhere on the screen can be edited, and if formatted with the required command syntax, can be middle-clicked and executed. Any text file containing suitably-formatted commands can be used as a so-called '''tool text''', thus serving as a user-configurable menu. Even the output of a previous command can be edited and used as a new command. This approach is radically different from both conventional dialogue-oriented console menus or [[command-line interface]]s but bears some similarities to the worksheet interface of the [[Macintosh Programmer's Workshop#look and feel|Macintosh Programmer's Workshop]].

Since it does not use graphical [[Graphical widget|widgets]], only plain text, but offers comparable functionality to a [[GUI]] with a [[tiling window manager]], it is referred to as a Text User Interface or TUI. For a short introduction, see the 2nd paragraph on page four of the first published ''Report on the Oberon System''.<ref>{{cite tech report |author1-link=Niklaus Wirth |first1=Niklaus |last1=Wirth |first2=Jürg |last2=Gutknecht |date=1988 |title=The Oberon System |url=http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/eserv/eth:3180/eth-3180-01.pdf |volume=88 |series=ETH Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Institut für Informatik |doi=10.3929/ethz-a-000487176 }}</ref>

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== In embedded systems ==

[[File:MicroVGA TUI demoapp.jpg|thumb|300px|Embedded system displaying menu on an LCD screen]]

Modern [[embedded system]]s are capable of displaying TUI on a monitor like personal computers. This functionality is usually implemented using specialized integrated circuits, modules, or using [[FPGA]].

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* The [[full screen editor]] of the [[Commodore 64]] 8-bit computers was advanced in its market segment for its time. Users could move the cursor over the entire screen area, entering and editing [[BASIC]] program lines, as well as [[direct mode]] commands. All Commodore [[8-bit]] computers used the [[PETSCII]] character set, which included character glyphs suitable for making a TUI.

* Apple's [[Macintosh Programmer's Workshop]] programming environment included Commando, a TUI shell. It was the inspiration for BBEdit's shell worksheet.

* Later [[Apple II series|Apple II]] models included [[MouseText]], a set of graphical glyphs used for making a TUI.

* The [[Corvus Concept]] computer of 1982 used a [[function key]]-based text interface on a full-page pivoting display.

== See also ==

* [[Command-line interface]] (CLI)

* [[Console application]]

* [[Natural-language user interface]]