Saturday, 20 August 2011

USER INTERFACE

lA user interface is the system by which 
people (users) interact with a machine.
 The user interface includes hardware 
(physical) and software (logical) components.
lUser interfaces exist for various systems, 
and provide a means of:
-Input, allowing the users to 
manipulate a system, and/or
-Output, allowing the system to indicate
 the effects of the users' manipulation.

lUsers may also interact with the
operating system with some kind of 
software user interface like typing 
commands by using command line interface 
(CLI) or using a graphical user interface.
lFor hand-held and desktop computers
the user interface is generally considered
part of the operating system.
lOn large multi-user systems such as 
Unix-like systems, the user interface is
 generally implemented as an application 
program
that runs outside the operating system.










       




Operating System Placement

      The user interface has two main components:

lPresentation language, which
 is the computer-to-human part of the 
transaction.
lAction language that characterizes
the human-to-computer portion

Types of User Interfaces

  There are several types 
      of user interfaces:
lCommand Line Interfaces.
lMenu interfaces.
lGraphical User Interfaces (GUIs).
lVoice User Interfaces.
lWeb Form Interfaces.

Command interfaces

lUser types commands to give 
instructions to the system e.g. UNIX
lMay be implemented using
 cheap terminals.
lEasy to process using 
compiler techniques.
lCommands of arbitrary 
complexity can be created by 
command combination.
lConcise interfaces requiring
 minimal typing can be created.


Menu Interfaces
lMenu Interface presents user 
with a menu of choices.
lRather than learning specific 
commands, user choose them 
from the menu.
lMenus can contain submenus, 
in which case user need to 
memorize how to access a 
particular command.
lThis is still much easier than 
memorizing the actual command.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)
lgraphical user interface or GUI (sometimes
pronouncedgooey) is a type of user interface item that allows
people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such
as computers
lExamples: hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable
Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and
office equipment with images rather than text commands.
lGUI offers graphical icons, and visual indicators, as
opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text
navigation to fully represent the information and actions available
to a user.
VoiceUser Interface
lA Voice User Interface (VUI) makes human interaction with computers possible through a voice/speech platform in order to initiate an automated service or process.

lThe VUI is the interface to any speech application.
lControlling a machine by simply talking to it was science fiction only a short time ago.
lHowever, with advances in technology, VUI have become more common place, and people are taking advantage of the value that these hands-free, eyes-free interfaces provide in many situations.

Web Form Interfaces
lWeb Form interfaces are onscreen forms displaying fields containing data items or parameters that need to be communicated to the user.
lWeb Form interfaces may be implemented using the Web
lA Web Form allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for processing.
lWeb forms resemble paper forms because internet users fill out the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons, or text fields.
lFor example, Web Forms can be used to enter shipping or credit card data to order a product or can be used to retrieve data (e.g: searching on a search engine).
lIn addition to functioning as input templates for new information, Web Forms can also be used to query and display existing data in a similar manner to mail merge forms, with the same advantages..



WebForm Interfaces

lWeb Form interfaces are onscreen forms displaying fields containing data items or parameters that need to be communicated to the user.
lWeb Form interfaces may be implemented using the Web
lA Web Form allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for processing.
lWeb forms resemble paper forms because internet users fill out the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons, or text fields.
lFor example, Web Forms can be used to enter shipping or credit card data to order a product or can be used to retrieve data (e.g: searching on a search engine).
lIn addition to functioning as input templates for new information, Web Forms can also be used to query and display existing data in a similar manner to mail merge forms, with the same advantages..


No comments:

Post a Comment