User Guide

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

• Quick Start
• Features
  • Upcoming birthdays
  • Command Assistant
  • Command History
  • Commands
    • Viewing help : help
    • Adding a contact: add
    • Listing all contacts : list
    • Editing a contact : edit
    • Adding Tags : tag
    • Removing Tags : untag
    • Locating contacts by name and tag(s): find
    • Locating contacts by name or tag(s): findAny
    • Pinning a contact: pin
    • Unpinning a contact: unpin
    • Deleting a contact : delete
    • Deleting multiple contact : deletem
    • Exporting a mailing list of contacts: mailingList
    • Clearing all entries : clear
    • Exiting the program : exit
• FAQ
• Command Summary

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Quick start

1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed on your computer.

2. Download the latest CONNECTIONS.jar from here.

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

4. Double-click the file to start the app. The GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
   

5. Type the command in the command box and press Enter to execute it. e.g. typing help and pressing Enter will show a list of commands that CONNECTIONS supports.
   Click here for a summary of example commands you can try!

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

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Features

Upcoming Birthdays

The vertical tab provides upcoming birthdays at a glance. Having this means that you will never miss a birthday. It sorts all birthdays amongst all contacts in CONNECTIONS chronologically, with the nearest upcoming birthday at the top.

• Contacts color-coded in GREEN are celebrating their birthdays today.
• Contacts color-coded in BLUE will be celebrating their birthdays in a week or less.
• The rest of the entries will not be color-coded.
  

Command Assistant

Shows command format and example as the command is entered for a smoother learning curve.

Sample Usage:

• edit is entered in the command box.
  • CONNECTIONS shows command format and sample for edit.
• tag is entered in the command box.
  • CONNECTIONS shows command format and sample for tag.

Command History

View and use previously called commands to minimize typing of repeated commands.

Notes:

• Only commands that have been used in the current program run can be viewed. Commands used in previous runs are not stored.

Sample Usage:

• Up Arrow
  • Shows the previous command called in the command box.
  • If there are no previous commands, an empty command box is shown.
  • If the earliest command is shown, earliest command will continue to be shown.
• Down Arrow
  • Shows the next command called in the command box.
  • If there are no later commands, an empty command box is shown.

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Commands

Viewing help : help

Shows a help message that explains the purpose and method of usage for each command for a smoother learning curve.

Format:

• help - List out all available commands.
• help COMMAND - Shows help message for the command specified.

Notes:

• Use the command help more to open a link to the documentation.

Sample Usage:

• help
  • Shows all available commands.
• help add
  • Shows help message for add.
• help more
  • Opens a link to the documentation.

Adding a contact: add

Adds a contact to CONNECTIONS.

Format:

• add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [b/BIRTHDAY] [t/TAG]…​

Notes:

• Phone numbers must be unique and must contain only numbers.
• Emails must contain @. (Valid emails that violate convention are accepted as well)
• Birthdays are optional and can be added to existing contacts using the edit command.
• Future dates are not allowed as birthdays.
• Tag names are limited to 60 characters.

Sample Usage:

• 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 b/25121999 p/1234567 t/criminal

Listing all contacts : list

Shows a list of all contacts in CONNECTIONS.

Format:

• list

Editing a contact : edit

Edits an existing contact in CONNECTIONS.

Format:

• edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [b/BIRTHDAY] [t/TAG]…​

Notes:

• Edits the contact at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed contact list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
• There must be at least one of the optional fields provided alongside the edit command.
• Existing values will be updated to the input values.
• The existing set of tags that belongs to a contact will be updated to the new set of tags inputted. i.e. The edits made to a set of tags are not cumulative.
• You can remove all tags of a particular contact using edit INDEX t/ (without providing anything after t/).

Sample Usage:

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

Adding Tags : tag

Adds one or more tags to an existing contact in CONNECTIONS. This facilitates the organization of contacts into groups.

Format:

• tag INDEX t/TAG [t/MORE_TAGS]…​

Notes:

• Adds tag(s) to the contact at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed contact list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
• New tags are added on top of existing tags i.e., tags added are cumulative.
• Adding new tags which already exist will succeed with a warning letting you know that the contact already had those tags.
• Tags have a character limit of 60.

Sample Usage:

• tag 2 t/friend t/NUS
  • Adds the tags friend and NUS to the 2nd contact.

Removing Tags : untag

Removes one or more existing tags from an existing contact in CONNECTIONS.

Format:

• untag INDEX t/TAG [t/MORE_TAGS]…​

Notes:

• Remove tags from the contact at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed contact list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
• Only tags that exist will be removed.
• CONNECTIONS displays a warning and will not remove any tags if the user tries to remove a non-existent tag.

Sample Usage:

• untag 2 t/friend t/NUS
  • Removes the tags friend and NUS from the 2nd contact.

Locating contacts by name(s) and tag(s): find

Finds all contacts who match ALL name and tag keywords provided. This narrows your search so that you will be able to filter contacts with greater specificity.

The commands find and findAny will filter the displayed contacts and only display the matching results.

Format:

• find [c/] [n/NAME] …​ [t/TAG] …​
  • Note that find must have at least one [n/NAME] or [t/TAG].

Notes:

• find is case-insensitive for names. e.g. find n/hans will match contacts named Hans.
• find is case-insensitive for tags by default. e.g. find t/friend will match a contact with tags Friend or friend.
  • Adding the c/ flag after the command word will make tag matching case-sensitive.
    e.g. find c/ t/friend will match a contact with tag friend but not Friend.
• The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. find n/Hans t/football will return the same result as find t/football n/Hans.
• Only full words will be matched for names and tags.
  • find n/an will not return Hans, but will return Jing An.
• Only contacts that matched all keywords provided will be returned as search results (i.e. AND search).
  e.g. find n/Hans t/Friend will return all contacts with names containing the word Hans and are tagged with Friend.

Sample Usage:

• find n/John
  • returns john and John Doe.
• find n/alex t/football t/classmate
  • returns Alex Yeoh, who has both football and classmates tag.
    
• find c/ t/FRIENDS
  • returns Shin, who is tagged with FRIENDS.

Locating contacts by name(s) or tag(s): findAny

Finds all contacts who match ANY name and tag keywords provided. This broadens your search so that you will be able to filter contacts with greater flexibility.

Format:

• findAny [c/] [n/NAME] …​ [t/TAG] …​
  • Note that findAny must have at least one [n/NAME] or [t/TAG].

Notes:

• findAny is case-insensitive for names. e.g. findAny n/hans will match contacts named Hans.
• findAny is case-insensitive for tags by default. e.g. findAny t/friend will match a contact with tags Friend or friend.
  • Adding the c/ flag after the command word will make tag matching case-sensitive.
    e.g. findAny c/ t/friend will match a contact with tag friend but not Friend.
• The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. findAny n/Hans t/football will return the same result as findAny t/football n/Hans.
• Only full words will be matched for names and tags.
  • findAny n/an will not return Hans, but will return Jing An.
• Only contacts that match at least one of the keywords provided will be returned as search results (i.e., OR search) e.g. findAny n/Hans t/Friend will return all contacts with names containing the word Hans or are tagged with Friend.

Sample Usage:

• findAny n/John
  • returns john and John Doe.
• findAny n/alex n/irfan t/chef
  • returns Alex Yeoh, Irfan Ibrahim, Carol who is tagged with chef.
    
• findAny c/ n/Shin t/FRIENDS t/chef
  • returns Shin who is tagged with FRIENDS, as well as Carol who is tagged with chef.

Pinning a contact : pin

Pins a contact to the top of the contact list. This makes it easier to refer to the details of frequent contacts.

Pinned contacts will appear at the top of the unfiltered list

Format:

• pin INDEX

Notes:

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

Sample Usage:

• list followed by pin 2
  • pins the 2nd contact in CONNECTIONS.
• find n/Betsy followed by pin 1
  • pins the 1st contact in the results of the find command.

Unpinning a contact : unpin

Unpins a contact.

Format:

• unpin INDEX

Notes:

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

Sample Usage:

• list followed by unpin 2
  • unpins the 2nd contact in CONNECTIONS.
• find n/Betsy followed by unpin 1
  • unpins the 1st contact in the results of the find command.

Deleting a contact : delete

Deletes the specified contact from the address book.

Format:

• delete INDEX

Notes:

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

Sample Usage:

• list followed by delete 2
  • deletes the 2nd contact in CONNECTIONS.
• find n/Betsy followed by delete 1
  • deletes the 1st contact in the results of the find command.

Deleting multiple contacts : deletem

Deletes the contacts within the range from CONNECTIONS. This makes the removal of multiple contacts easy.

Format:

• deletem START_INDEX - END_INDEX

Notes:

• Deletes the contacts within the specified range from START_INDEX to END_INDEX.
• The indexes refer to index numbers shown in the displayed contact list.
• The indexes must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
• END_INDEX must be greater than or equal to START_INDEX.

Sample Usage:

• list followed by deletem 2 - 3
  • deletes the 2nd and 3rd contacts in the CONNECTIONS.
• find n/Betsy followed by deletem 1 - 5
  • deletes the 1st to 5th contacts in the results of the find command.

Exporting a mailing list of contacts : mailingList

Exports a CSV file of the current view containing specified fields. This helps you to make external notes when organizing birthday parties.

Format:

• mailingList [p/] [e/] [a/] [b/] [t/]

Notes:

• Name is always the first column in the CSV file.
• Including any of the arguments will include that field in the exported CSV file.
• Each argument represents:
  • p/ phone number
  • e/ email
  • a/ address
  • b/ birthday
  • t/ tags
• The default exported fields are name, phone, email.
• Opens a file selector for you to pick the export location and file name.

Sample Usage:

• mailingList
  • Prepares a CSV of the current view containing Name, Phone and Email as the fields.
• mailingList p/
  • Prepares a CSV of the current view containing Name and Phone as the fields.

Clearing all entries : clear

Clears all entries from CONNECTIONS.

Format:

• clear

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format:

• exit

Saving the data

CONNECTIONS 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

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

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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 CONNECTIONS home folder.

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Command Summary

Action	Summary	Format, Examples
Help	Displays help information	help [COMMAND] e.g., help, help add, help more
Add	Adds a contact	add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [b/BIRTHDAY] [t/TAG]…​ e.g., add n/James Ho p/22224444 e/jamesho@example.com a/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 b/23062001 t/friend t/colleague
List	Lists all contacts	list
Edit	Edits a contact	edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [b/BIRTHDAY] [t/TAG]…​ e.g.,edit 2 n/James Lee e/jameslee@example.com b/30012000 At least one argument must be present
Tag	Tags a contact	tag INDEX t/TAG [t/MORE_TAGS]…​ e.g., tag 2 t/friend t/NUS
Untag	Untags a contact	untag INDEX t/TAG [t/MORE_TAGS]…​ e.g., untag 2 t/colleague
Find	Locates contacts by name and tags (Results fulfill all search terms)	find [c/] [n/NAME]... [t/TAG]... e.g., find n/James t/friends At least one argument must be present
FindAny	Locates contacts by name and tags (Results fulfill at least one search term)	findAny [c/] [n/NAME]... [t/TAG]... e.g., findAny n/James t/NUS At least one argument must be present
Pin	Pins a contact	pin INDEX e.g., pin 1
Unpin	Unpins a contact	unpin INDEX e.g., unpin 1
Delete	Deletes a contact	delete INDEX e.g., delete 3
Deletem	Deletes multiple contacts within the range	deletem START_INDEX - END_INDEX e.g., deletem 3 - 5
MailingList	Exports a mailing list	mailingList [p/] [e/] [a/] [b/] [t/] e.g., mailingList [p/] [e/] [b/]
Clear	Clears all entries	clear
Exit	Exits the program	exit