AB-3 User Guide

AddressBook Level 3 (AB3) is a desktop app for managing contacts, optimized for use via a Line Interface (CLI) while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). If you can type fast, AB3 can get your contact management tasks done faster than traditional GUI apps.

Quick start

  1. Ensure you have Java 17 or above installed in your Computer.
    Mac users: Ensure you have the precise JDK version prescribed here.

  2. Download the latest .jar file from here.

  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your AddressBook.

  4. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in, and use the java -jar addressbook.jar command to run the application.
    A GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
    Ui

  5. Type the command in the command box and press Enter to execute it. e.g. typing help and pressing Enter will open the help window.
    Some example commands you can try:

    • list : Lists all contacts.

    • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 : Adds a contact named John Doe to the Address Book.

    • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd contact shown in the current list.

    • clear : Deletes all contacts.

    • exit : Exits the app.

  6. Refer to the Features below for details of each command.

Features

Notes about the command format:

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are the parameters to be supplied by the user.
    e.g. in add n/NAME, NAME is a parameter which can be used as add n/John Doe.

  • Items in square brackets are optional.
    e.g n/NAME [t/TAG] can be used as n/John Doe t/friend or as n/John Doe.

  • Items with …​ after them can be used multiple times including zero times.
    e.g. [t/TAG]…​ can be used as   (i.e. 0 times), t/friend, t/friend t/family etc.

  • Parameters can be in any order.
    e.g. if the command specifies n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER, p/PHONE_NUMBER n/NAME is also acceptable.

  • Extraneous parameters for commands that do not take in parameters (such as list, exit and clear) will be ignored.
    e.g. if the command specifies list 123, it will be interpreted as list.

  • If you are using a PDF version of this document, be careful when copying and pasting commands that span multiple lines as space characters surrounding line-breaks may be omitted when copied over to the application.

Viewing help : help

Directs user to detailed information about the application or specific commands.

Format: help [COMMAND]

  • If no command is given, the URL for the help page will be shown. help message
  • If a command parameter is given, the usage for the command will be shown
  • Command keywords are case sensitive

Examples:

  • help shows the help page
  • help add shows the usage for the add command

Adding a foodplace: add

Adds a foodplace to the address book.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAG]… [no/NOTE] [r/RATING]​

Tip: A foodplace can have any number of tags (including 0)

Examples:

  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01
  • add n/Betsy Crowe t/friend e/betsycrowe@example.com a/Newgate Prison p/1234567 t/criminal

Listing all foodplaces : list

Shows a list of all foodplaces in the address book.

Format: list

Deleting a foodplace : delete

Deletes the specified foodplace from the address book.

Format: delete INDEX

  • Deletes the foodplace at the specified INDEX.
  • The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed foodplace list.
  • The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • list followed by delete 2 deletes the 2nd foodplace in the address book.
  • find Betsy followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st foodplace in the results of the find command.

Editing a foodplace : edit

Edits an existing foodplace in the address book.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]… [no/NOTE] [r/RATING]​

  • Edits the foodplace at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed foodplace list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
  • At least one of the optional fields must be provided.
  • Existing values will be updated to the input values.
  • When editing tags, the existing tags of the foodplace will be removed i.e adding of tags is not cumulative.
  • You can remove all the foodplace’s tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.

Examples:

  • edit 1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com Edits the phone number and email address of the 1st foodplace to be 91234567 and johndoe@example.com respectively.
  • edit 2 n/Betsy Crower t/ Edits the name of the 2nd foodplace to be Betsy Crower and clears all existing tags.

Adding a note to a foodplace : note

Adds / edits the note of an existing foodplace in the address book.

Format: note INDEX [note]

  • Edits the foodplace at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed foodplace list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
  • You can remove the foodplace’s notes by not specifying any notes after INDEX.
  • Note have a maximum character limit of 100.
  • Note only allows ASCII-printable characters. You may refer to here for the characters that are accepted.

Examples:

  • note 2 Good customer service! Adds / Edits the note of the 2nd foodplace to be Good customer service!.
  • note 2 Removes any notes of the 2nd foodplace.

Rate a foodplace : rate

Assigns/Removes an optional rating from the specified foodplace in the address book.

Format: rate INDEX RATING

  • Finds the foodplace at the specified INDEX.
  • The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed foodplace list.
  • The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
  • Sets the rating of the found foodplace to the specified RATING.
  • The rating must be an integer between 0 and 10 e.g. 0, 1, 2, …​

Examples:

  • list followed by rate 2 5 sets the 2nd foodplace in the address book to have a rating of 5.
  • Executing rate 1 0 sets the 1st foodplace in the addressbook to have its current rating removed.
  • Executing rate 1 5 then rate 1 8 sets the 1st foodplace in the addressbook to have its current rating to 5 first then to 8.

Adding a tag a foodplace : tag

Adds or removes one or more tags from the specified foodplace in the address book.

Format 1 : tag INDEX TAG1 [TAG2]...
Format 2 : tag INDEX /d [TAG1] [TAG2]...

  • Finds the foodplace at the specified INDEX and edits its tags.
  • At least one tag must be provided for Format 1.
  • Multiple tags can be added at once using Format 1.
  • Tag additions are cumulative (existing tags are kept unless deleted).

Examples:

  • tag 3 FastFood Vegan adds both FastFood and Vegan tags to the 3rd foodplace.
  • tag 2 /d FastFood removes the FastFood tag from the 2nd foodplace.

Tip: Using tag INDEX /d without specifying any tags will remove all tags from the selected foodplace.

Locating foodplaces by name: find

Finds foodplaces whose name, phone, email, address, note, rating, or tags contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

  • The search is case-insensitive. e.g prata will match Prata
  • The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. Prata Place will match Place Prata
  • Keywords are matched against multiple fields.
  • The search uses substring matching. e.g. Pr will match Prata
  • Foodplaces matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search).

Examples:

  • find prata returns Prata Place and The Prata House
  • find delivery 5 returns foodplaces with either “delivery” or “5” appearing in any field
    result for 'find delivery 5'

Clearing all entries : clear

Clears all entries from the address book.

Format: clear

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

AddressBook data are saved in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need to save manually.

Editing the data file

AddressBook data are saved automatically as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/addressbook.json. Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

Caution: If your changes to the data file makes its format invalid, AddressBook will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run. Hence, it is recommended to take a backup of the file before editing it.
Furthermore, certain edits can cause the AddressBook to behave in unexpected ways (e.g., if a value entered is outside the acceptable range). Therefore, edit the data file only if you are confident that you can update it correctly.

Archiving data files [coming in v2.0]

Details coming soon ...

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another Computer?
A: Install the app in the other computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data of your previous AddressBook home folder.

Known issues

  1. When using multiple screens, if you move the application to a secondary screen, and later switch to using only the primary screen, the GUI will open off-screen. The remedy is to delete the preferences.json file created by the application before running the application again.
  2. If you minimize the Help Window and then run the help command (or use the Help menu, or the keyboard shortcut F1) again, the original Help Window will remain minimized, and no new Help Window will appear. The remedy is to manually restore the minimized Help Window.

Command summary

Action Format, Examples
Help help [COMMAND]
e.g., help add
Add add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAG]…​
e.g., add n/James Ho p/22224444 e/jamesho@example.com a/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 t/friend t/colleague
List list
Delete delete INDEX
e.g., delete 3
Edit edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​
e.g.,edit 2 n/James Lee e/jameslee@example.com
Note note INDEX [NOTE]
e.g., note 1 Famous for their chicken rice!
Rate rate INDEX RATING
e.g., rate 1 6
Tag tag INDEX TAG1 [TAG2]…​
tag INDEX /d [TAG]…​
e.g., tag 1 FastFood Expensive
e.g., tag 1 /d FastFood
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g., find James Jake
Clear clear
Exit exit