The system was interactive, using a command prompt within the system for user interaction. For instance, to start a new database the user would type at the command prompt, which would then respond by asking the user to type in the name for the database and then prompt for the field definitions. An empty line stops this process and sends it into data-entry mode, allowing rows to be entered. Any step of this operation could be removed by providing the data in the original command, for instance, if one typed instead of , the system no longer asked for the file name.
