Atlas User Guide

Atlas is a desktop app for managing contacts and transactions for F&B business owners, 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, Atlas can get your contact and transaction 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 Atlas.

  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 : Adds a contact named John Doe to Atlas.

    • addtxn i/1 n/Coffee beans a/-50 : Adds an expense transaction to the 1st contact.

    • 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 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

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

help message

Format: help

Adding a person: add

Adds a person to Atlas.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​

  • NAME, PHONE_NUMBER, and EMAIL are required fields.
  • ADDRESS is optional. You can add contacts without an address.
  • Phone numbers must contain at least 3 digits.
  • A person cannot be added if another person with the same name already exists in Atlas.

Tip: A person can have any number of tags (including 0). Tags help you categorize your contacts (e.g., supplier, customer, VIP).

Examples:

  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01
  • add n/Betsy Crowe p/1234567 e/betsycrowe@example.com t/friend t/supplier
  • add n/Alex Supplier p/91234567 e/alex@supplier.com (without address)

Listing all persons : list

Shows a list of all persons in the address book.

Format: list

Editing a person : edit

Edits an existing person in the address book.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​

  • Edits the person at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed person 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 person will be removed i.e adding of tags is not cumulative.
  • You can remove all the person’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 person to be 91234567 and johndoe@example.com respectively.
  • edit 2 n/Betsy Crower t/ Edits the name of the 2nd person to be Betsy Crower and clears all existing tags.

Locating persons by name: find

Finds persons whose names contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

  • The search is case-insensitive. e.g hans will match Hans
  • The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. Hans Bo will match Bo Hans
  • Only the name is searched.
  • 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). e.g. Hans Bo will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang

Examples:

  • find John returns john and John Doe
  • find alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li
    result for 'find alex david'

Deleting a person : delete

Deletes the specified person from the address book.

Format: delete INDEX

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

Examples:

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

Adding a transaction : addtxn

Adds a transaction to a specified contact. Useful for tracking purchases from suppliers or sales to customers.

Format: addtxn i/PERSON_INDEX n/TRANSACTION_NAME a/AMOUNT

  • Adds a transaction to the contact at the specified PERSON_INDEX.
  • The AMOUNT determines the transaction type:
    • Positive amount (e.g., 50) = INCOME transaction
    • Negative amount (e.g., -50) = EXPENSE transaction
  • The amount cannot be zero.
  • All transactions are saved automatically and will persist after restarting the app.

Note: Transactions are displayed on the contact card below their email address.

Examples:

  • addtxn i/1 n/Coffee beans a/-150.50 - Adds an expense of $150.50 for coffee beans to contact #1
  • addtxn i/2 n/Monthly payment a/500 - Adds an income of $500 for monthly payment to contact #2
  • addtxn i/3 n/Equipment purchase a/-2000 - Adds an expense of $2000 for equipment to contact #3

Deleting a transaction : deletetxn

Deletes a specified transaction from a contact.

Format: deletetxn i/PERSON_INDEX t/TRANSACTION_INDEX

  • Deletes the transaction at TRANSACTION_INDEX from the person at PERSON_INDEX.
  • The person index refers to the index shown in the displayed person list.
  • The transaction index refers to the transaction number shown on the person's card (starting from 1).
  • Both indices must be positive integers 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • deletetxn i/1 t/2 - Deletes the 2nd transaction from the 1st contact
  • deletetxn i/3 t/1 - Deletes the 1st transaction from the 3rd contact

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

Atlas data (including all contacts and transactions) 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

Atlas 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, Atlas 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 Atlas 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 Atlas home folder.

Q: What happens if I try to add a person with the same name?
A: Atlas will reject the addition and show an error message. Each person must have a unique name.

Q: Can I add a contact without an address?
A: Yes! Only name, phone number, and email are required. Address is optional.

Q: How do I view my transactions?
A: Transactions are automatically displayed on each person's contact card in the main list view.

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 n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​
e.g., add n/James Ho p/22224444 e/jamesho@example.com t/supplier
Add Transaction addtxn i/PERSON_INDEX n/TRANSACTION_NAME a/AMOUNT
e.g., addtxn i/1 n/Coffee beans a/-150.50
Clear clear
Delete delete INDEX
e.g., delete 3
Delete Transaction deletetxn i/PERSON_INDEX t/TRANSACTION_INDEX
e.g., deletetxn i/1 t/2
Edit edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​
e.g.,edit 2 n/James Lee e/jameslee@example.com
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g., find James Jake
List list
Help help