Doritus is an address book software for NUS teaching staff to manage student contacts. It is 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, Doritus can get your contact management tasks done faster than traditional GUI apps.

  • Table of Contents

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 Doritus data.

  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 (students and teaching staff).

    • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com u/johndoe123 t/friends : Adds a student.

    • add staff n/Jane Smith p/91234567 e/jane@example.com u/janesmith : Adds a teaching staff (tutor). Position defaults to Teaching Assistant if omitted.

    • staffslist : Lists only teaching staff. studentslist : Lists only students.

    • tutorslot 2 mon-10-12 : Adds Monday 10:00–12:00 availability to the 2nd person in the list (must be teaching staff).

    • tutordashboard : Shows all teaching staff and their available time slots.

    • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd person shown in the current list (works for both students and staff).

    • export : Exports all contacts to a CSV file.

    • import : Imports contacts from a CSV file.

    • clear : Deletes all contacts.

    • exit : Exits the app.

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

Features

:information_source: 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, staffslist, studentslist, tutordashboard, exit and clear) will be ignored.
    e.g. if the command specifies help 123, it will be interpreted as help. e.g. if the command specifies staffslist anything, it will be interpreted as staffslist. e.g. if the command specifies studentslist 1, it will be interpreted as studentslist. e.g. if the command specifies tutordashboard foo, it will be interpreted as tutordashboard.

  • 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.

Types of tags

  • General purpose tags: Alphanumeric characters only (e.g. examDuty)
  • Special tags: these tags follow a specific format
    • Tutorial groups: begins with tut:, followed by an optional uppercase letter and maximally 2 digits (e.g. tut:A11, tut:17, tut:2)
    • Lab groups: begins with lab:, followed by an optional uppercase letter and maximally 2 digits (e.g. lab:A11, lab:17, lab:2)
    • Course: begins with course:, followed 2-4 uppercase letters, proceeded by 4 digits and an optional uppercase suffix letter (e.g. course:CS2103, course:CS2103T, course:GESS1000T)

Input history

The up and down arrow keys can be used to navigate previously entered commands within the same session.

Behavior:

  • Only past commands that were successfully executed (did not provide an error) will be accessible

Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

help message

Format: help

Adding a student: add

Adds a student to the address book.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL u/USERNAME [t/TAG]…​

Parameters:

  • NAME: Alphanumeric characters and single spaces only (cannot be blank; consecutive spaces not allowed).
  • PHONE: Valid Singapore phone number. Exactly 8 digits, must start with 3, 6, 8, or 9. Must be unique.
  • EMAIL: Valid email format. Must be unique.
  • USERNAME: Alphanumeric characters only (no spaces or special characters). Must be unique.
  • TAG: Optional; can be used multiple times. See Types of tags for more details.

Examples:

  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com u/johndoe123
  • add n/Betsy Crowe p/81234567 e/betsycrowe@example.com u/betsycrowe t/friend
  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com u/johndoe123 t/course:CS2103 - Adds the student John Doe belonging to the course CS2103

Adding teaching staff: add staff

Adds a teaching staff (tutor) to the address book.

Format: add staff n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL u/USERNAME [pos/POSITION] [t/TAG]…​

Parameters:

  • NAME: Required. Alphanumeric characters and single spaces only (cannot be blank; consecutive spaces not allowed).
  • p/, e/, u/: Required.
  • pos/: Optional.
  • PHONE: Valid Singapore phone number. Exactly 8 digits, must start with 3, 6, 8, or 9. Must be unique.
  • EMAIL: Valid email format. Must be unique.
  • USERNAME: Alphanumeric only. Must be unique.
  • POSITION: Must be one of: Teaching Assistant, Professors. If omitted, defaults to Teaching Assistant.
  • TAG: Optional; can be used multiple times. See Types of tags for more details.

Behavior:

  • Position defaults to Teaching Assistant when pos/ is omitted.

Examples:

  • add staff n/Jane Smith p/91234567 e/jane@example.com u/janesmith — Adds teaching staff with default position “Teaching Assistant”.
  • add staff n/Dr Lee p/91234567 e/lee@example.com u/drlee pos/Professors t/colleagues — Adds teaching staff with full details.

Listing all persons : list

Shows a list of all persons in the address book (both students and teaching staff).

Format: list

Listing teaching staff only : staffslist

Shows only teaching staff in the address book.

Format: staffslist

Listing students only : studentslist

Shows only students (persons who are not teaching staff) in the address book.

Format: studentslist

Adding a tutor availability slot : tutorslot

Adds an availability time slot to a teaching staff member. This allows tutors and professors to specify when they are available to teach.

Format: tutorslot INDEX SLOT

Parameters:

  • INDEX: Must be a positive integer (1, 2, 3, …) referring to the position of a teaching staff member in the * *currently displayed** list.
  • SLOT: Must be in format DAY-START-END, where:
    • DAY is one of: mon, tue, wed, thu, fri, sat, sun (case-insensitive).
    • START and END are hours (0–23). START must be before END.
    • Slots that cross midnight are not supported in the current format.

Behavior:

  • The person at the given index must be a teaching staff member (not a student).
  • Overlapping time slots on the same day are not allowed for the same person (including exact duplicates).
  • Time slots are displayed in the UI beneath the staff member’s contact details.
  • Time slots are persisted in the data file.

Examples:

  • staffslist then tutorslot 1 mon-10-12 — Adds Monday 10:00–12:00 availability to the 1st teaching staff.
  • tutorslot 2 wed-14-16 — Adds Wednesday 14:00–16:00 availability to the 2nd person (must be staff).
  • tutorslot 1 fri-9-17 — Adds Friday 09:00–17:00 availability to the 1st person (must be staff).

Viewing tutor availability dashboard : tutordashboard

Displays a dashboard of all teaching staff and their available time slots, regardless of the currently displayed list.

Format: tutordashboard

Behavior:

  • Shows all teaching staff in the address book — not just those visible in the current filtered list.
  • For each staff member, lists their time slots sorted by day and start time.
  • Displays (no slots set) for staff members who have no slots added yet.

Example output:

Tutor Availability Dashboard (3 tutor(s)):
1. Benson Meier: Mon 10:00-12:00, Wed 14:00-16:00
2. Daniel Meier: (no slots set)
3. George Best: Fri 09:00-11:00

Examples:

  • tutordashboard — Shows the full availability dashboard for all teaching staff.
  • After tutorslot 1 mon-10-12, run tutordashboard to confirm the slot was added.

Editing a person : edit

Edits an existing person in the address book. For teaching staff, you can also change their position.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [u/USERNAME] [pos/POSITION] [t/TAG]…​

Parameters:

  • INDEX: Must be a positive integer (1, 2, 3, …​) referring to the position in the currently displayed list.
  • At least one optional field must be provided.
  • pos/POSITION: Only applies to teaching staff. Must be Teaching Assistant or Professors. Ignored for students.

Behavior:

  • Updates the specified fields; unspecified fields are unchanged.
  • Same validation constraints as add / add staff apply.

  • When editing tags, existing tags are replaced (not cumulative). Use t/ with no value to clear all tags. Examples:

  • edit 1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com — Edits the 1st person’s phone and email.
  • edit 2 n/Betsy Crower t/ — Edits the 2nd person’s name and clears all tags.
  • staffslist then edit 1 pos/Professors — Edits the 1st teaching staff’s position to Professors.

Adding tags to a person

Appends tags to an existing person, without having to respecify all existing tags

Format: tag-add INDEX [t/TAG]…

Parameters:

  • INDEX: Must be a positive integer (1, 2, 3, …​) referring to the position in the currently displayed list.
  • TAG: At least one must be provided. Can be used multiple times. See Types of tags for more details.

Behavior:

  • Unlike the edit command, tag-add will not override existing tags. Instead, all tags specified will be added to the person’s list of tags.
  • A warning will be generated if any of the tags already exist (but command will still succeed)

Examples:

  • tag-add 1 t/needsHelp t/course:CS2103T t/tut:10 - Adds tags to indicate that the first visible person is in the course CS2103T who resides in tutorial group 10 and needs help

Locating persons by name/tag: find

Finds persons whose names contain any of the given keywords and/or who have any of the specified tags.

Format: find [KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]...] [t/TAG [MORE_TAGS]...] [e/EMAIL [MORE_EMAILS]...] [u/USERNAME [USERNAMES]...]

Note: At least one keyword or tag must be provided.

Behavior:

  • Name search: Keywords match against person names (case-insensitive)
    • The order of keywords does not matter. e.g. Hans Bo will match Bo Hans
    • Only full words will be matched e.g. Han will not match Hans
    • Persons matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search)
  • Tag search: Tags match against person tags (case-insensitive)
    • Persons with at least one matching tag will be returned (i.e. OR search)
  • Email search: Keywords match against person emails (case-insensitive)
    • Persons matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search)

  • Combined search: If both keywords and tags are provided, persons must match at least one keyword AND at least one tag (i.e. AND between name and tag criteria)

  • Username search: Keywords match against person username (case-insensitive)
    • Persons matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search)

Examples:

  • find John — Returns all persons with “John” in their name
  • find alex david — Returns Alex Yeoh, David Li, and anyone else with “alex” or “david” in their name
  • find t/friends — Returns all persons tagged with “friends”
  • find t/colleagues t/important — Returns all persons tagged with either “colleagues” or “important”
  • find John t/friends — Returns persons with “John” in their name who are also tagged with “friends”
    result for 'find alex david'

Deleting a person : delete

Deletes the specified person from the address book. Works for both students and teaching staff.

Format: delete INDEX

Parameters:

  • INDEX: Must be a positive integer (1, 2, 3, …​). Refers to the position in the currently displayed list.

Behavior:

  • Permanently removes the person at that index. The list may be the full list (list), only staff (staffslist), or only students (studentslist).
  • Operation cannot be undone.
  • You will be asked to confirm before the deletion is carried out.

Examples:

  • list then delete 2 — Deletes the 2nd person in the full list (student or staff).
  • staffslist then delete 1 — Deletes the 1st teaching staff in the staff list.
  • find Betsy then delete 1 — Deletes the 1st person in the find results.

Clearing all entries : clear

Clears all entries from the address book.

Format: clear

:exclamation: Caution: This permanently deletes all contacts and cannot be undone. You will be asked to confirm before the operation is carried out.

Double confirmation

Some commands that are irreversible — currently delete and clear — require you to explicitly confirm before they are executed.

How it works:

  1. Enter a critical command (e.g. delete 1 or clear).
  2. Doritus displays a prompt: 
    Are you sure you want to execute the following command?
"delete 1"
Please type Y to confirm or N to cancel.
  3. Type Y and press Enter to proceed, or N and press Enter to cancel.

Behavior:

  • Typing Y executes the original command.
  • Typing N cancels the command and displays Command Cancelled!.
  • Entering any other command while a confirmation is pending will execute that command instead and discard the pending one.

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Exporting contacts : export

Exports all contacts in the address book to a CSV file. This allows you to share or back up your contacts data.

Format: export [f/FILE_PATH]

Parameters:

  • f/FILE_PATH: Optional. The file path where contacts should be exported. If not provided, exports to the default location (./export.csv).

Behavior:

  • Exports all contacts (both students and teaching staff) in the current address book to a CSV file.
  • If the file already exists, it will be overwritten.
  • The CSV file includes contact details such as name, phone, email, username, position, and tags.

Examples:

  • export — Exports contacts to ./export.csv (default location).
  • export f/contacts.csv — Exports contacts to contacts.csv in the current directory.
  • export f/backup/students.csv — Exports contacts to backup/students.csv.

Importing contacts : import

Import contacts from the given file path of a .csv file.

Format: import f/FILE

Parameters:

  • FILE: Required. Needs to be a valid file path to a csv file generated from the export command.

Behavior:

  • Only the contacts who are not currently in the address book will be added.

Examples:

  • import f/./contacts.csv — Imports all contacts from contacts.csv.

Saving the data

Doritus 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

Doritus 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.

:exclamation: Caution: If your changes to the data file make its format invalid, Doritus 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 Doritus to behave in unexpected ways (e.g., if a value entered is outside of the acceptable range). Therefore, edit the data file only if you are confident that you can update it correctly.

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another Computer?
A: Install the app on the other computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data from your previous Doritus 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 student add n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL u/USERNAME [t/TAG]…​
e.g., add n/James Ho p/82224345 e/jamesho@example.com u/jamesho t/friend
Add staff add staff n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL u/USERNAME [pos/POSITION] [t/TAG]…​
e.g., add staff n/Jane Smith p/91234567 e/jane@example.com u/janesmith or add staff n/Dr Lee p/91234567 e/lee@example.com u/drlee pos/Professors
List all list
List staff only staffslist
List students only studentslist
Tutor slot tutorslot INDEX SLOT
e.g., tutorslot 1 mon-10-12
Tutor dashboard tutordashboard
Edit edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [u/USERNAME] [pos/POSITION] [t/TAG]…​
e.g., edit 2 n/James Lee e/jameslee@example.com or edit 1 pos/Professors (staff only)
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g., find James Jake
Delete delete INDEX
e.g., delete 3 (index from current list: full, staff, or students)
Clear clear
Import import f/FILE
e.g., import f/./contacts.csv
Export export [f/FILE_PATH]
e.g., export or export f/contacts.csv
Help help
Exit exit