Text-based user interface

Text-based user interface (TUI), also called textual user interface or terminal user interface, is a retronym that was coined sometime after the invention of graphical user interfaces, to distinguish a text-based interface that processes events from command-line interfaces that operate sequentially. An advanced TUI may, like GUIs, use the entire screen area and accept mouse input. A TUI does not necessarily provide line-by-line output, although TUIs only use text, symbols and colors available on a given text environment. VisiCalc and the Emacs and vi visual editors are the earliest examples of TUIs.