Application Interface.
This flyer is about the interfaces for differentapplicatins.
Command Line
Graphical user interface (GUI)
GUI is a very common type of interface used on IT systems because they are extremely easy to use (Right is a screen shot of windows' GUI)
Windows - The screen of a GUI is divided into areas called windows. They allow you to work on different tasks at once.
Icons - These are small pictures that represent commands, iles or windows. Cicking on a icon it will carry out a command or open a window.
Menus - Menus allow the user to make selections from a list. Menus can help de-clutter your desktop.
Pointers - This is the arrow that appears when using windows. It can change when using dfferent applications. The mouse is what can be used to move the pointer around the screen.
Desktop - This is the working area of the GUI (the picture is of a windows desktop) and this is where all the icons are situated.
Drag and drop - You can select items and drag them to certain areas to either move or put folders or files into other folders. You can even delete documents that you no longer want.
Taskbars - The taskbar shows what programmes are open. This is useful when you are useing multiple programmes together.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages - No knowledge on using language is needed. On older computers you had to type in certain instructions to communicate and get the computer to do what you wanted it to do. Icons are used so that even inexperienced users can use the computer with great ease. A mouse can be used to use the icons increasing its easiness.
Disadvantages - More memory is required to run the GUI and more sophisticated GUI's take more memory. Increased processing requirements but processors are getting more powerful all the time so this disadvantage has be made obsolete.
Driven Interfaces
Menu-Driven - The user will be presented with a list of options and they can type in the letters or numbers of what they want. This type of driven interface is the easiest to use however it is only really good when you have a small list of things select from.
Form-driven - This collects data from the user in a step-by-step manner this can take a long time. The data required is collected by the user keying the data the form asks for. Validation checks can be put in place to make sure what the user is typing in will fit into the data that is required.