Command prompt

A command prompt (or just prompt) is a character or string of characters used in a s.

It is common to allow prompts to be modifiable by the user. Often, the default prompt style does not include important information (such as the current working directory), so it is common to see it manually set in system startup or login scripts. In the proper environment, command prompts may include color, special characters, and other things like the current time in order to make the prompt more useful, visually pleasing, and easy to see.

In DOS and Microsoft Windows, this is done by issuing a prompt command or by changing the value of the %PROMPT% environment variable. To get the common C:> style, the command prompt $P$G could be issued, for instance.

On Unix systems, the $PS1 variable can be changed, although some other variables may also have an impact on what appears on the screen (and it often depends on what Unix shell is being used). In Bash, a prompt like would be set by executing the command export PS1= .