AB-3 User Guide

AddressBook Level 3 (AB3) is a desktop application for managing contacts, optimized for use through a Command Line Interface (CLI) while retaining the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). If you type quickly, AB3 can help you manage contacts faster than traditional GUI applications.

Quick start

  1. Ensure that Java 25 or later is installed on 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 terminal, cd to the folder containing the JAR file, and run java -jar addressbook.jar.
    A GUI similar to the one below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
    Ui

  5. Type a command in the command box and press Enter to execute it. For example, type help and press Enter to 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 section 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.
    For example, in add n/NAME, replace NAME with a value such as John Doe.

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

  • Items followed by ... can appear zero or more times.
    For example, [t/TAG]... may be omitted, or written as t/friend or t/friend t/family.

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

  • Extraneous parameters for commands that take no parameters, such as help, list, exit, and clear, are ignored.
    For example, help 123 is 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 the address book.

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

Tip: A person can have any number of tags, including zero.

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 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, all of the person's existing tags are removed; adding tags is not cumulative.
  • To remove all of a person's tags, enter t/ without a tag 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; for example, hans matches Hans.
  • Keyword order does not matter; for example, Hans Bo matches Bo Hans.
  • The search considers only names.
  • Only full words match; for example, Han does not match Hans.
  • Persons matching at least one keyword are returned (an OR search); for example, Hans Bo returns Hans Gruber and 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.

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 automatically saves data after every command. You do not need to save manually.

Editing the data file

AddressBook data is 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 make the data file invalid, AddressBook starts with an empty address book at the next run. The invalid file remains on disk until you run a command (AddressBook saves after every command). Still, we recommend backing up 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 of 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 on the other computer and overwrite the data file it creates with the data file from 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 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
Clear clear
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
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g., find James Jake
List list
Help help