User Guide

TAbs is a desktop app for managing contacts, 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, TAbs can get your class management tasks done faster than traditional GUI apps.

• Quick start
• Features
  • Viewing help: help
  • Listing all tutorials: list
  • Adding a tutorial: add_tutorial
  • Deleting a tutorial: delete_tutorial
  • Copying a tutorial: copy_tutorial
  • Editing a tutorial: edit_tutorial
  • Finding tutorials by name: find
  • Listing all the students in a tutorial: list_students
  • Adding students to a tutorial: add_student
  • Deleting a student from a tutorial: delete_student
  • Marking students in a tutorial as present: mark
  • Unmarking students in a tutorial: unmark
  • Clearing all tutorials: clear
  • Exiting the program: exit
  • Saving the data
  • Editing the data file
  • Archiving data files [coming in v2.0]
• FAQ
• Known issues
• Command summary

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 TAbs.

4. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in, and use the java -jar TAbs.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.
   

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 tutorials.

   • add_tutorial t/T123 m/CS2103T d/2025-01-01 : Adds a tutorial with ID T123 for module CS2103T.

   • list_students t/T1 : Display a list of all the students enrolled in the tutorial with ID T1.

   • delete_tutorial t/T1 : Deletes the tutorial with ID T1.

   • clear : Deletes all tutorials.

   • exit : Exits the app.

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

Features

Viewing help: help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

Format: help

Listing all tutorials: list

Shows a list of all tutorials in TAbs.

Format: list

Adding a tutorial: add_tutorial

Adds a tutorial to TAbs.

Format: add_tutorial t/TUTORIAL_ID m/MODULE_CODE d/DATE [id/STUDENT] …​

• Adds a tutorial with the specified TUTORIAL_ID, MODULE_CODE, and DATE.
• The tutorial ID must match the format (C|T) followed by digits (e.g., T1, C123).
• The module code should follow standard university module code format (e.g., CS2103T).
• The date should be in YYYY-MM-DD format.
• Students can be added optionally using their student IDs (format: A followed by 7 digits and a capital letter).
• Multiple students can be added to the same tutorial.

Examples:

• add_tutorial t/C456 m/CS2101 d/2025-01-01
• add_tutorial t/T123 m/CS2103T d/2025-01-01 id/A1231231Y id/A3213213Y

Deleting a tutorial: delete_tutorial

Deletes the specified tutorial from TAbs.

Format: delete_tutorial t/TUTORIAL_ID

• Deletes the tutorial with the specified TUTORIAL_ID.
• The tutorial ID refers to the title of the tutorial as displayed in TAbs.
• The input must match the tutorial’s ID exactly (case-sensitive).

Examples:

• delete_tutorial t/T2 deletes the tutorial with ID T2 in TAbs.

Copying a tutorial: copy_tutorial

Creates a copy of an existing tutorial with a new tutorial ID and date.

Format: copy_tutorial t/NEW_TUTORIAL_ID from/EXISTING_TUTORIAL_ID d/DATE

• Copies an existing tutorial identified by EXISTING_TUTORIAL_ID and creates a new tutorial with NEW_TUTORIAL_ID and the specified DATE.
• The new tutorial ID must match the format (C|T) followed by digits (e.g., T1, C123).
• The new tutorial ID must not already exist in TAbs.
• The existing tutorial ID must exist in TAbs.
• All students from the existing tutorial will be copied to the new tutorial.
• The module code will be copied from the existing tutorial.
• The date should be in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Examples:

• copy_tutorial t/C2 from/C1 d/2025-04-10 - Copies tutorial C1 to create a new tutorial C2 with date 2025-04-10.
• copy_tutorial t/T202 from/T201 d/2025-05-15 - Copies tutorial T201 to create a new tutorial T202 with date 2025-05-15.

Editing a tutorial: edit_tutorial

Edits the details of an existing tutorial in TAbs.

Format: edit_tutorial from/EXISTING_TUTORIAL_ID [t/NEW_TUTORIAL_ID] [m/NEW_MODULE_CODE] [d/NEW_DATE]

• Updates the details of the tutorial identified by the tutorial ID specified after from/.
• You may change one or more of the following:
  • Tutorial ID (t/)
  • Module code (m/)
  • Date (d/)
• The tutorial ID provided with from/ must exactly match an existing tutorial (case-sensitive).
• At least one editable field (t/, m/, or d/) must be specified.
• Editing student lists (e.g. using id/) is not allowed here — use add_student or delete_student instead.

Examples:

• edit_tutorial from/T123 t/T456 - Renames tutorial T123 to T456.
• edit_tutorial from/T456 m/CS2103T d/2025-10-25 - Updates tutorial T456 to have module code CS2103T and date 2025-10-25.
• edit_tutorial from/T123 t/T789 m/CS2040S d/2025-08-20 - Updates the tutorial with ID T123 to:
  • Have new ID T789
  • Change its module code to CS2040S
  • Set its new date to 2025-08-20

Common Errors:

• The from/ prefix is mandatory, as it tells TAbs which tutorial to edit.
• Attempting to edit a non-existent tutorial will result in an error:Tutorial ID not found.
• If no editable fields are provided: At least one field to edit must be provided.
• If a student field (e.g. id/) is accidentally included: Students cannot be edited via this command. Please use the add_student or delete_student commands instead.

Finding tutorials by name: find

Finds tutorials whose MODULE_CODE or TUTORIAL_ID contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

• The search is case-sensitive, e.g. t01 will not match T01.
• Only full words will be matched, e.g. CS2103 will not match CS2103T.
• Tutorials matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search). e.g. CS2103T CS2101 will return tutorials with MODULE_CODE: CS2103T, CS2101 T01 C200 will return tutorials with TUTORIAL_ID: T01, C200

Examples:

• find T01 C200 will return tutorials with TUTORIAL_ID: T01, C200

• find CS2103T returns all tutorials with MODULE_CODE: CS2103T

  

Listing all the students in a tutorial: list_students

Display a list of all the students enrolled in a specific tutorial on TAbs.

Format: list_students t/TUTORIAL_ID

• Lists all the students in a tutorial with the specified TUTORIAL_ID.
• It shows a numbered list of all the STUDENT_ID of the students in that tutorial e.g., (1. A1234567X)
• The TUTORIAL_ID refers to the title of the tutorial as displayed in TAbs (beginning with T).
• The input must match the TUTORIAL_ID exactly.

Examples:

• list_students t/T2 lists all the student in the tutorial with TUTORIAL_ID: T2 in TAbs.

Adding students to a tutorial: add_student

Adds one or more students to a specified tutorial in TAbs.

Format: add_student id/STUDENT_ID... t/TUTORIAL_ID

• Adds one or more students, identified by their STUDENT_ID, to the tutorial identified by TUTORIAL_ID.
• You can specify multiple student IDs in a single command, separated by spaces.

• Each student ID must follow the format AXXXXXXX&, where:

  • The first letter (A) is uppercase,
  • Followed by 7 digits (XXXXXXX),
  • Ending with an uppercase letter (&).
• The tutorial ID refers to the title of the tutorial as displayed in TAbs (begins with T).
• The input must match the tutorial’s ID exactly (case-sensitive).

Examples:

add_student id/A1231231Y t/T1

Adds student A1231231Y to tutorial T1.

add_student id/A1231231Y id/A3213213Y id/A2223334B t/T2

Adds students A1231231Y, A3213213Y, and A2223334B to tutorial T2.

Behaviour and duplicate handling:

• If all specified students already exist in the tutorial, TAbs will reject the command and show an error message:

  The following student(s):
    [A1231231Y, A3213213Y]
  are already in tutorial T2!
  

• If some students already exist but others are new, TAbs will:

  • Add the new students successfully.
  • Notify the user that certain students were already in the tutorial. Example:

  The following student(s):
    [A2223334B]
  were added to tutorial T2
  
  The following student(s):
    [A1231231Y, A3213213Y]
  are already in tutorial T2!
  

Deleting a student from a tutorial: delete_student

Deletes the specified student from the specified tutorial from TAbs.

Format: delete_student id/STUDENT t/TUTORIAL_ID

• Delete a single student, identified by their STUDENT_ID, from the tutorial identified by TUTORIAL_ID.
• The student ID must follow the format AXXXXXXX&, where:
  • The first letter (A) is uppercase,
  • Followed by 7 digits (XXXXXXX),
  • Ending with an uppercase letter (&).
• The tutorial ID refers to the title of the tutorial as displayed in TAbs.
• The input must match the tutorial’s ID exactly (case-sensitive).

Examples:

• delete_student id/A1231231Y t/T2 deletes the student with ID A1231231Y from the tutorial with ID T2.

Marking students in a tutorial as present: mark

Marks specified students, in a tutorial in TAbs as present.

Format: mark t/TUTORIAL_ID id/STUDENT …

• Marks one or more students, identified by their STUDENT_ID, in the tutorial identified by TUTORIAL_ID as present.
• You can specify multiple student IDs in a single command, separated by spaces.
• Each student ID must follow the format AXXXXXXX&, where:
  • The first letter (A) is uppercase,
  • Followed by 7 digits (XXXXXXX),
  • Ending with an uppercase letter (&).
• The tutorial ID refers to the title of the tutorial as displayed in TAbs.
• The input must match the tutorial’s ID exactly (case-sensitive).

Examples:

• mark t/C456 id/A1231231Y marks student A1231231Y in tutorial C456 as present.
• mark t/T123 id/A1231231Y id/A3213213Ymarks student A1231231Y and student A3213213Y in tutorial T123 as present.

Unmarking students in a tutorial: unmark

Unmarks specified students, in a tutorial in TAbs.

Format: unmark t/TUTORIAL_ID id/STUDENT …

• Unmarks one or more students, identified by their STUDENT_ID, in the tutorial identified by TUTORIAL_ID.
• You can specify multiple student IDs in a single command, separated by spaces.
• Each student ID must follow the format AXXXXXXX&, where:
  • The first letter (A) is uppercase,
  • Followed by 7 digits (XXXXXXX),
  • Ending with an uppercase letter (&).
• The tutorial ID refers to the title of the tutorial as displayed in TAbs.
• The input must match the tutorial’s ID exactly (case-sensitive).

Examples:

• unmark t/C456 id/A1231231Y unmarks student A1231231Y in tutorial C456.
• unmark t/T123 id/A1231231Y id/A3213213Y unmarks student A1231231Y and student A3213213Y in tutorial T123.

Clearing all tutorials: clear

Removes all tutorials from TAbs.

Format: clear

Exiting the program: exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

TAbs 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

TAbs data are saved automatically as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/TAbs.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, TAbs 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 TAbs to behave in unexpected ways (e.g., if a value entered is beyond 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 TAbs 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