Graceful interaction through the COUSIN command interface

Currently available interactive command interfaces often fail to provide adequate error correct ion or on-l ine help facilities, leading to the perception of an unfriendly interface and consequent frustration and reduced productivi ty on the part of the user. The C O U S I N project of Carnegie-Meiion University Is developing command interfaces which appear more friendly and support ive to their users, using a form-based model of communicat ion, and incorporat ing error correct ion and on-line help. Because of the t ime and effort involved in construct ing truly user-friendly interfaces, we are working on interface systems designed to provide interfaces to many different application systems, as opposed to separate interfaces to individual applications. A C O U S I N interface system gets the information it needs to provide these services for a given application from a declarative descript ion of that appl icat ion'