ClientConnect User Guide

ClientConnect 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.

    • find friends : Finds all contacts that has the word friends in either of their names, tags, or product preferences.

    • rank name : Ranks the contacts based on the clients' names.

  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 help, list, exit and clear) will be ignored.
    e.g. if the command specifies help 123, it will be interpreted as help.

  • 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

You may feel stuck after using ClientConnect for a while. To review how it's used, you can show a message explaining how to access the help page.

help message

Just typing the following and you will get your help in no time:

help

Adding a client: add

Adds a client to the address book by just typing:

add

Format: `add name/NAME phone/PHONE_NUMBER email/EMAIL address/ADDRESS [tag/TAG] [pref/preference] [freq/frequency]

  • A client can have any number of tags (including 0)
  • When there is a preference then there should be a frequency. If not, then frequency will be 0 by default. While preference is also optional like tag.
  • Phone: Only number digits (0-9) of length 8 without spaces
  • Name: Only case-sensitive alphabets (a-z) and one space between each word
  • Address: Any input is ok (if only alphabet and number, then user can not input “#”)

Examples:

  • add name/John Doe phone/98765432 email/johnd@example.com address/John street, block 123, #01-01
  • add name/Betsy Crowe phone/98765432 email/betsycrowe@example.com address/Newgate Prison tag/criminal pref/tea bag freq/7 result for 'add'

Listing all clients : list

Ready to see all your amazing contacts? Just type:

list
  • This command will display a complete list of every client in your address book, so you can easily check out all your contacts at a glance. Enjoy the view!
    result for 'list'

Editing a client : edit

Ready to update a client’s details? With the edit command, you can easily change information like name, phone number, email, address, tags, and product preferences! Just follow this format:

edit INDEX [name/NAME] [phone/PHONE] [email/EMAIL] [address/ADDRESS] [tag/TAG] [pref/PRODUCT PREFERENCE] [freq/PRODUCT FREQUENCY]…​`

Here's how it works:

  • Select Your Client: Replace INDEX with the client’s number from your current list.

Remember, it must be a positive integer.

  • Update Your Info: Add one or more optional fields to update specific details. At least one field must be provided.
  • Automatic Replacement: Each field you specify will replace the existing value. For tags, the old ones are completely removed—unless you leave them out.
  • Clear Tags: To remove all tags, simply type tag/ without any tags following it.
  • Product Preferences: When updating product preferences, include both pref/ and freq/ together. If you only provide pref/, the frequency defaults to 0.

Using only freq/ without pref/ isn’t allowed.

Examples:

  • Update Contact Info: Type edit 1 phone/91234567 email/johndoe@example.com to instantly change the phone number and email of the 1st client to 91234567 and johndoe@example.com.
  • Rename and Reset Tags: Type edit 1 name/Betsy Crower tag/ to update the 1st client’s name to Betsy Crower while clearing all their tags. result for 'before edit'
    result for 'before edit'

Locating clients: find

You can find clients whose names contain any of the given keywords. You'll have access to certain clients who are tagged specifically or had purchased a certain product from you.

You may use the following format for searching:

find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
  • The search ignores letter case. For example, hans will match Hans
  • The order of the keywords does not matter as well. It does not matter whether you search for Hans Bo or Bo Hans, they are the same.
  • Only full words will be matched e.g. Han will not match Hans
  • Clients matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search). e.g. Hans Bo will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang
  • Name, product preference and tags can be searched.
  • As such, you may use combinations of words from the different attributes to search for multiple clients with mix attributes. e.g. shampoo friends will return all matching clients with the friend tag or shampoo product preference.

Examples:

  • find John returns john and John Doe

  • find alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li
    result for 'find alex david'

  • find shampoo returns Shampoo and Cherry Shampoo in the product preference.
    result for 'find shampoo'

  • find classmates returns classmates in the tag
    result for 'find shampoo'

  • find shampoo friends returns friends in the tags and/ or shampoo in the product preference.
    result for 'find shampoo friends'

Deleting a client : delete

You can remove a client from your address book using the delete command. To do so, type:

expand INDEX
  • Replace INDEX with the number corresponding to the client in your current list
  • For example, 1 for the first client, 2 for the second, etc.

Remember, the INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • After using the find Betsy command, typing delete 1 will remove the 1st client from the search results.
  • If you run the list command, then typing delete 7 will remove the 7th client from your address book.
    result for 'before delete 7'
    result for 'after delete 7'

Expand Client View: expand

You can use the expand command to see more details about a specific client. Just type:

expand INDEX
  • where INDEX is the position number of the client in your current list.
  • for example, 1 for the first client, 2 for the second, and so on

The INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • After running the list command, typing expand 2 will show more details for the second client.
  • If you search with find Joe, then typing expand 1 will display the details for the first client in your search results.
    result for 'expand 1'

Ranking clients : rank

After a lot of searching and listing, you may want to find out clients that have higher priority than others. In ClientConnect, ranking is possible to sort the current list of clients shown on the screen.

Type in the following format, using the keyword that you would like to rank your clients by:

rank KEYWORD

❗ NOTE

  • The keyword must be one of the defined keywords.
  • Some examples of KEYWORD:
    • total to rank by the clients' total purchase in descending order.
    • name to rank by the clients' names in lexicographic order (i.e. ascending order alphabetically and numerically).
  • Ranks the current list of clients by the specified KEYWORD.
  • The keyword refers to the attribute or factor you may rank the clients by.
  • The sorting would work regardless of letter case. For instance, Name and name would be ranked the same way.

Examples:

  • list (automatically ranks by name) followed by rank total ranks all clients by their total purchase.
    result for 'list' then 'rank total'

  • find shampoo followed by rank name ranks all clients that are found by the find command by their names in lexicographical order.
    result for 'find shampoo' then 'rank name'

Clearing all entries : clear

To remove every client from your address book at once, just type:

clear

This command will instantly wipe all entries for you.
result for 'clear'

Exiting the program : exit

When you're ready to close the application, simply type:

exit

You can move on to your day feeling prepared.

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
Add add name/NAME phone/PHONE_NUMBER email/EMAIL address/ADDRESS [tag/TAG] [pref/PRRODUCT_PREFERENCE] [freq/PRODUCT_FREQUENCY]…​
e.g., add name/James Ho phone/22224444 email/jamesho@example.com address/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 tag/friend tag/colleague pref/Shampoo freq/10
Clear clear
Delete delete INDEX
e.g., delete 3
Edit edit INDEX [name/NAME] [phone/PHONE_NUMBER] [email/EMAIL] [address/ADDRESS] [tag/TAG] [pref/PRODUCT_PREFERENCE] [freq/PRODUCT_FREQUENCY]…​
e.g.,edit 2 name/James Lee email/jameslee@example.com
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g., find James Jake, find friends, find shampoo
List list
Help help
Rank rank KEYWORD
e.g., rank total rank name
Expand expand INDEX
e.g., expand 1