Editing FOCAL (programming language) (section)

===Direct and indirect modes===
FOCAL followed the JOSS model for interaction via a [[command line interface]]. This allowed users to type in commands in "direct mode", which were performed immediately, or to prefix them with a line number, in which case they were added to the program if they were unique, or overrode existing code if the same number had previously been used.{{sfn|Manual|1968|p=2.1}}

The method of operation is similar to BASIC's "[[Direct mode|immediate mode]]" vs. "program mode". It contrasts with JOSS, in which all commands, both program and direct, were saved and loaded as part of the user's workspace. This allowed JOSS to have commands without line numbers, which they used for {{code|Form}} definitions and other tasks. FOCAL lacked this capability, so those instructions that needed to be loaded and saved became options on other program-mode commands like {{code|Type}}.{{sfn|Manual|1968|p=2.1}}