Windows – Command Prompt – Shell, Terminal, Console

cmd.execommand lineshellwindowswindows-shell

I know that cmd.exe is a console program. When you run that program, it opens your standard black and white rectangular window. Within that window, there is the Command Line Interpreter denoted by > (this is $ in *NIX systems).

So if cmd.exe == "Command Prompt" == Console Program, does that make the window that opens a Console, Console Window or a Terminal?

Bonus:

Since a shell is a program that runs other program, cmd.exe must also be one. That said, what shell is it (i.e. *NIX has bash for example)? Is it just Windows Shell?

Best Answer

What is `cmd.exe`?

cmd is a command-line interpreter, a program that accepts input, runs other programs and writes output.

When you run that program, it opens your standard black and white rectangular window.

Not always. You can run a second cmd.exe in a currently open cmd window without opening a new command window.

Does that make the window that opens a Console, Console Window or a Terminal?

The window is called a "Command Prompt", as indicated by it's title bar:

This particular command prompt is an Administrator command prompt.

Since a shell is a program that runs other program, cmd.exe must also be one

If you want to use the word shell as a description then it is a cmd shell.

Related Solutions

Batch file that runs cmd.exe, a command, and then stays open at prompt

Put in your batch file

start cmd.exe /k "net use"

From cmd /?

Starts a new instance of the Windows XP command interpreter

CMD [/A | /U] [/Q] [/D] [/E:ON | /E:OFF] [/F:ON | /F:OFF] [/V:ON | /V:OFF] [[/S] [/C | /K] string]

/C Carries out the command specified by string and then terminates
/K Carries out the command specified by string but remains

Windows – Why is a percent sign appearing before each prompt on zsh in Windows

The relevant option probably is PROMPT_SP, explanaition from the manual

Attempt to preserve a partial line (i.e. a line that did not end with a newline) that would otherwise be covered up by the command prompt due to the PROMPT_CR option. This works by outputting some cursor-control characters, including a series of spaces, that should make the terminal wrap to the next line when a partial line is present (note that this is only successful if your terminal has automatic margins, which is typical).

When a partial line is preserved, by default you will see an inverse+bold character at the end of the partial line: a % for a normal user or a # for root. If set, the shell parameter PROMPT_EOL_MARK can be used to customize how the end of partial lines are shown.

So, either you do a

unsetopt PROMPT_SP

if you don't care about the covered up line (however in your case it seems to be a empty line, as you get the % sign at the beginning).

Or use

setopt PROMPT_CR
setopt PROMPT_SP
export PROMPT_EOL_MARK=""

which preserves partial lines, but removes the % -- at the cost of some empty lines over the prompt.

To make this permanent, update your ~/.zshrc.

This is a blind shot, as I cannot reproduce this behaviour in my cmd.exe.

Best Answer

What is cmd.exe?

Related Solutions

Batch file that runs cmd.exe, a command, and then stays open at prompt

Windows – Why is a percent sign appearing before each prompt on zsh in Windows

Related Question

What is `cmd.exe`?