The promptis a character or message that tells you thecomputer system is ready to accept a command or input. A command is an instruction you give to the computer. A prompt may be textual, such as "ENTER COMMAND," or a character such as a question mark (?) or a period (.). In DOS, the prompt is a right-pointing arrow or caret that looks like this: >.
The Command Line
The prompt appears on the command line. The command line,as its name implies, is the portion of the screen where you issue DOS commands or instructions. Once you have typed the command and reread it to make sure it is accurate, you must press the Enter key to issue the command.
The Cursor
Commands are issued at the prompt on the command line by typing them on the keyboard. But first, we need to know if the command line is ready to accept a command. The cursoris usually a blinking rectangle or a blinking underline that tells us where the next keyboard character we type will appear on the screen. It appears just to the right of the prompt. Other types of personal computers that use a mouse, such as the Macintosh, often display an arrow for pointing at the menu and issuing commands. Regardless of the type of task we're working at, the cursor is our constant point of reference.
