For the OpenVMS implementation, the command line parser is a runtime library () that can be compiled into user applications and therefore gives a consistent command line interface for both OS supplied commands and user written commands. The command line must start with a verb and is then followed by arguments or qualifiers (switches in Unix terminology) which begin with a '/' character. Unlike Unix (but similar to DOS), a space is not required before the '/'. Qualifiers can be position independent (occurring anywhere on the command line) or position dependent, in which case the qualifier affects the parameter it appears after. Most qualifiers are position independent. Only the first most significant part of the verb and qualifier name is required. An example OS command may look like: