Design and Implementation of An Astronomical Command Line Interface System Based on the Python

Developing astronomical data processing software is important to research of astronomical technologies. It has long been an issue of concern of how to develop efficient and user friendly visual interactive interfaces for astronomical data processing software. In this paper we discuss the limitations of the mainstream Command Line Interfaces (CLIs), including the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA). Considering the requirements for the software system of the Chinese Solar Radio Heliograph (CSRH), we have designed and implemented a CLI system based on the Python language. We illustrate some key aspects of our design, including definitions of data types, techniques of matching system commands, methods of verifying data, control of user accessing, extensions of input commands, and installation of the online help function. We present an example of how to build a user-defined modularized CLI function in the system. We finally show screenshots of the interface. Our CLI system has been integrated into the data processing system of the CSRH. Our study can provide useful references for development of other astronomical software systems.