A graphical method of controlling how a user interacts with a computer to perform various tasks. Instead of issuing commands at a prompt, the user performs desired tasks by using a mouse to choose from ‘a dashboard’ of options presented on the display screen. These are in the form of pictorial buttons (icons) and lists. Some GUI tools are dynamic and the user must manipulate a graphical object on the screen to invoke a function; for example, moving a slider bar to set a parameter value (e.g., setting the scale of a map).