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1. Introduction

TutorBuddy is a desktop application made for freelance tutors who give one-to-one tuition to efficiently manage their students’ contacts, provide a quick overview of scheduled tuition sessions, and handle monthly tuition fees calculation. TutorBuddy is also optimized for fast typing users to handle their day-to-day administrative responsibilities effectively.

2. About

This user guide provides documentation on the installation and usage of TutorBuddy. It also provides a comprehensive description of features available to you and includes a quick start section that helps you get started.

This guide uses the following features to make it easier for you to navigate around:

  • Words that look like this are hyperlinks, where clicking on it will redirect the user to the related section.
  • Words that look like this refer to keywords used as part of commands or responses from TutorBuddy.
  • Words that look like this refer to keyboard keys that you can press.

Boxes with the :information_source: icon contain additional useful information.

Boxes with the :bulb: icon contain additional tips and tricks to help you get the most out of TutorBuddy.

3. Quick start

This section provides information on how to quickly start using TutorBuddy.

3.1 Installation

Here are a few steps to get you started on TutorBuddy:

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

  2. Download the latest version of TutorBuddy here.

  3. Move the downloaded TutorBuddy to a folder of your choice. This will be known as the home folder of TutorBuddy.

  4. Double-click the file to start the application. An application similar to the one below should appear in a few seconds.

QuickStart

3.2 Using TutorBuddy

This section offers an overview of the layout in TutorBuddy.

There are three main areas in TutorBuddy:

  1. Utility area

  2. Main viewing area

  3. Result display box and command box

application-overview

  1. The utility area consists of 2 tabs: File, and Help.
    • The File tab consists of an exit button. To exit TutorBuddy, click on the exit button. Alternatively, use the exit command to exit the application.
    • The Help tab consists of a help button. If you require any assistance, click on the help button, copy the link displayed and paste it into any web browser. Alternatively, press F1 to bring up the help window.
  2. The main viewing area consists of 3 tabs: Home, Tuition and Calendar.
    • The Home tab gives tutors a quick overview of important matters. This includes their upcoming tuition lessons, as well as tuition fees receivable for the past 3 months.
    • The Tuition tab allow tutors to view and manage their students and lessons.
    • The Calendar tab allow tutors to have a weekly view of all sessions.
  3. The command box is the area for you to enter your commands. The result of each command will be shown in the result display box, which is located directly above the command box. This area is always present in all tabs.
    • Type a command in the command box and press Enter to execute it.

Using the sample data provided, here are some example commands you can try:

  • list : Lists all students and sessions.
  • add_student n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, Block 123, #01-01 l/Sec2 g/95421323 r/Mother : Adds a student named John Doe to TutorBuddy.
  • delete_student 3 : Deletes the 3rd student shown in the Student section.
  • add_session n/John Doe d/2021-01-01 t/13:00 k/120 s/Biology f/80: Adds a single tuition session for John Doe happening on 2021-01-01
  • add_rec_session n/John Doe d/2021-01-01 t/18:00 k/120 s/Biology f/80 b/7 e/2021-01-15: Adds a 7-day recurring session for John Doe happening from 2021-01-01 to 2021-01-15
  • exit : Exits the application.

Refer to the Commands below for details of each command.

4. Features

4.1 View

TutorBuddy allows the user to take full control of managing their students and tuition sessions with the following 3 views:

  1. Home
  2. Tuition
  3. Calendar

:bulb: Clicking and focusing on the tab header allows the user to change tab quickly using the arrow keys.

4.1.1 Home

The Home page is split into two views: Reminder and Monthly Fees. home page

Reminder

The Reminder section displays upcoming tuition sessions for 3 consecutive days, starting today. The upcoming tuition sessions are sorted in chronological order here.

:information_source: If today is a Monday, then the Reminder section will display all sessions on this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

3 Months Monthly Fee

The 3 Months Monthly Fees section displays tuition fees for the current month and the past two months.

:information_source: Note: The current month and past two months are calculated when the user first opens the application. No other months can be added to this section.

4.1.2 Tuition

The Tuition page is split into two views: Student and Session. tuition page

:bulb: This is the main tab for managing your students and sessions. Navigating to this tab before using commands such as add_student, find_student, add_session or delete_session allows the user to see the reflected changes on the Student and Session list view.

Student

The Student section displays students in TutorBuddy.

Session

The Session section displays sessions corresponding to each student in TutorBuddy.

4.1.3 Calendar

The Calendar section provides a weekly view of all tuition sessions in TutorBuddy. calendar The left and right arrow allows you to view past and future tuition sessions. Click the ‘Today’ button to be brought back to this week’s view.

4.2 Commands

Commands are the main way you interact with TutorBuddy.

This section provides information about all commands that is available in TutorBuddy.

:information_source: All examples from this point onwards are based on the sample data unless otherwise stated.
Each example is run independently of the other examples.
The sample data can be found [here].

4.2.1 Command Format

:information_source: Notes about the command format:

This section details the format of the commands available in TutorBuddy. We will adhere to the following:

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are the parameters / information to be supplied by the user.
    e.g. in add_student n/NAME, NAME is a parameter which can be used as add n/John Doe.

  • Items in square brackets are optional.
    e.g. find_student KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS] can be used as find_student John Samuel or as find_student John.

  • Parameters can be in any order.
    e.g. if the command specifies n/NAME p/STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER, p/STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER n/NAME is also acceptable.

  • If a parameter is expected only once in the command but you specified it multiple times, only the last occurrence of the parameter will be taken.
    e.g. if you specify p/98765432 p/99999999, only p/99999999 will be taken.

  • Extra parameters for commands that do not take in parameters (such as emails, help, exit, clear and list) will be ignored.
    e.g. if the command specifies help 123, it will be interpreted as help.

  • Names are case-sensitive.
    e.g. john is considered different from John.
    However, note that in find_student, the search is case-insensitive.

  • Names cannot be duplicates.
    e.g. There cannot be 2 different students of the same name John Tan and John Tan.

  • Indexes must be positive whole numbers 1, 2, 3, …

  • The STUDENT_INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed student list.

  • The SESSION_INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed session list.

  • Time must be input in the format, hh:mm. e.g. 13:00 is allowed, but not 1300.

  • Date must be input in the format, yyyy-mm-dd. e.g. 2021-01-01 is allowed, but not 01-01-2021.

  • Year must be between 1970 and 2037, both inclusive, in consideration of the 2038 problem e.g. 1969 and 2038 is not allowed.

The following subsections will elaborate on the specific details of each TutorBuddy’s command.

4.2.2 General

Viewing help : help

Displays URL to TutorBuddy’s User Guide and a list of all commands and their usages.

help message window

Format: help

To access the help page, do one of the following:

  1. type help in the command box
  2. press F1
  3. click the ‘Help’ button on the top left and click on the dropdown help message
Listing all students and sessions: list

Displays list of all students and all sessions in TutorBuddy.

Format: list

Example:

  1. Type in the command list and press Enter.
  2. All students and sessions on their respective list view on the Tuition tab. list
Clearing all data : clear

Clears all student and session data.

:bulb: Tip: TutorBuddy provides sample data to allow you to try out the application easily.
Run the clear command after you have explored the application and wants to start working with TutorBuddy in a clean slate.

Format: clear

Example:

  1. Type in the command clear and press Enter.
  2. All data in TutorBuddy will be wiped clean.
Exit the program: exit

Exits the program

Format: exit

To exit the program, do one of the following:

  1. Type in the command exit and press Enter
  2. Press the ‘X’ at the top right of the TutorBuddy
  3. Click on the ‘File’ button on the top left and click on the dropdown exit command

4.2.3 Managing Students

Adding a student: add_student

Adds a student to TutorBuddy with their respective guardian and study information.

Format: add_student n/NAME p/STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS l/STUDY_LEVEL g/GUARDIAN_PHONE_NUMBER r/RELATIONSHIP_WITH_GUARDIAN

:information_source: STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER, GUARDIAN_PHONE_NUMBER should be in Singapore’s phone formatting (i.e. starting with either 6, 8 or 9 and with 8 digits).
:information_source: TutorBuddy automatically shows the full list of students and sessions after a successful add_student command.

:bulb: TutorBuddy does not restrict the STUDY_LEVEL due to the vast number of education levels. The user is free to input any education level.
Example: Any of the inputs here will be accepted. Sec 2, Secondary 2, JC 1, Poly Y2
:bulb: If you have different students of the same NAME consider changing the name.
Example: Add a John Doe Bespectacled and a John Doe Unadorned

Example:

  1. You would like to add a new student, John Doe to TutorBuddy.
  2. Type in add_student n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, Block 123, #01-01 l/Sec2 g/95421323 r/Mother which includes all the essential information the application needs from the student and press Enter.

add_student_example

  1. Scrolling down to the end of the student list, you will see that John Doe has been added to TutorBuddy.

add_student_result_example

Locating student by name: find_student

Filters the student and session list to only include student(s), and their respective session(s) whose student name contains any of the given keywords.

Format: find_student KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

  • The search will be case-insensitive. e.g. searching john will match JOHN
  • Only the name of students can be searched
  • The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. John Doe will match Doe John
  • Only full words will be matched e.g. Do will not match Doe
  • Students with name matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search) e.g. John Doe will return John Tan, Peter Doe

Example 1:

# Student Name
1 John Lee
2 Johnz Tan
3 Jon Koh
4 Samuel Lee

Figure 1: Current State of Student List

Example command usages from the current student list shown in Figure 1:

  • find_student John returns “John Lee”
  • find_student Sam returns nothing
  • find_student Lee returns “John Lee” and “Samuel Lee”
  • find_student Johnz Lee returns “John Lee”, “Johnz Tan” and “Samuel Lee”

Example 2:

  1. You want to find students whose name contains Alex, David and Roy.

  2. Type find_student alex david roy (Note: keywords are case-insensitive) and press Enter.

find_student_example

  1. The student and session list will be filtered and only contains students and sessions of students whose name contains the keywords specified.

find_student_result_example

Editing a student: edit_student

Edits an existing student’s detail(s) in TutorBuddy.

Format: edit_student STUDENT_INDEX [n/NAME] [p/STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [l/STUDY_LEVEL] [g/GUARDIAN_PHONE_NUMBER] [r/RELATIONSHIP_WITH_GUARDIAN]

  • STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER and GUARDIAN_PHONE_NUMBER should be in Singapore’s phone formatting (i.e. starting with either 6, 8 or 9 with 8 digits)

Example:

  1. You would like to edit Alex Yeoh phone number, email address and address as they are wrong.
  2. Type edit_student 1 p/98825432 e/alexy@example.com a/Alex street, Block 123, #01-01 and press Enter. (This edits the student Alex Yeoh’s STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER, EMAIL, and ADDRESS which is at index 1)

edit_student_example

  1. The edited student information will be reflected in the student list.

edit_student_result_example

:bulb: Tip: Use find_student command to filter the list of students you want.
The STUDENT_INDEX will be based on the current / filtered list.
(E.g. If John Doe is the 500th student, instead of edit_student 500 [...], you can use find_student John Doe and edit_student 1 [...] if the particular John Doe you wish to edit is the 1st in the list)
Deleting a student: delete_student

Deletes the specified student from TutorBuddy.

Format: delete_student STUDENT_INDEX

Example:

  1. You would like to delete the 2nd student based on the current list of students.
  2. Type delete_student 2 and press Enter.

delete_student_example

  1. The 2nd student in the list (Bernice Yu) and her associated sessions will be deleted.

delete_student_result_example

:bulb: Tip: Similar to edit_student, you can also use find_student command to filter the list of students you want.
The STUDENT_INDEX will be based on the current / filtered list.
(E.g. If John Doe is the 500th student, instead of delete_student 500, you can use find_student John Doe and delete_student 1 if the particular John Doe you wish to delete is the 1st in the list)
Listing students’ emails based on current list: emails

As a user, you might want to quickly get all the email address of your students and send them a mass email. This feature displays a concatenated text of students’ emails based on current list, separated by ; which can be copied to their respective email client (E.g. Gmail) for mass sending of emails to students.

Format: emails

Example:

  1. You want to send a mass email to all of your students.

  2. Type emails and press Enter.

emails_example

  1. The concatenated text of all the students' emails will be displayed.

emails_result_example

  1. The user can copy the values in the result display box to the "To" field of any email client that they have (E.g. Gmail).

emails_client_example

:bulb: Tip: Similar to edit_student, you can also use find_student command after step 1 to filter the list of students you want.
The email addresses displayed will be based on the current list.
(E.g. If you only want the the email addresses of Alex Yeoh, David Li and Roy Balakrishnan from the sample data, you can use find_student Alex David Roy and emails to get the concatenated text of the 3 students’ email addresses.)

4.2.4 Managing Sessions

Please note that the following session commands can only be used after you have at least 1 student in TutorBuddy. Click here if you want to find out more on how to add your first student.

:information_source: Note that the examples in this section are done consecutively with an existing student, John Doe, in TutorBuddy.

Adding a single tuition session: add_session

Adds a single tuition session to TutorBuddy.

Format: add_session n/STUDENT_NAME d/DATE t/TIME k/DURATION s/SUBJECT f/FEE

  • STUDENT_NAME should match the exact student’s name in TutorBuddy
  • DATE should be the date of the session in yyyy-mm-dd format
  • DURATION should be in minutes
  • FEE should be the total tuition fee for 1 session of the given duration
    • TutorBuddy only accepts FEE within an acceptable range of values between 0 and 999999.99 (both inclusive) as we do not expect a single session to cost more than $999,999.99 or more.
    • FEE only allows values up to 2 decimal points only
:bulb: Tip: TutorBuddy takes care of overlapping session for you by giving a gentle prompt, so you don’t have to worry about it.

:information_source: Note that the [Time given in DATE + DURATION] should not exceed 23:59H of the same day. This is done as we do not except tutors to teach lessons beyond the day itself.

Example:

  1. You would like to add a new session for John Doe on the date 01 Jan 2021 at 18:00 where you will teach Biology for 120 minutes and charge a fee of $80.
  2. Type in add_session n/John Doe d/2021-01-01 t/18:00 k/120 s/Biology f/80 and press Enter to add the session information into TutorBuddy.

add_session_example

  1. You will now see that a new session is added in the session list under John Doe and is marked with a light blue letter "I" to indicate an individual session.

add_session_result_example

Adding a recurring tuition session: add_rec_session

Adds a recurring tuition session to TutorBuddy that allows you to specify the number of days between each recurring session.

Format: add_rec_session n/STUDENT_NAME d/START_DATE e/END_DATE b/INTERVAL t/TIME k/DURATION s/SUBJECT f/FEE

Arguments similar to add_session command except the following:

  • START_DATE should be the date of the first session
  • END_DATE should be the date of the last session
  • INTERVAL is the number of days to the next session
    e.g. INTERVAL = 7 for weekly sessions

Example:

  1. You would like to add a new recurring session for John Doe on the date 02 Jan 2021 at 18:00 where you will teach Math for 120 minutes and charge a fee of $80 for each lesson. The session will occur every 7 days until 29 Jan 2021.
  2. Type in add_rec_session n/John Doe d/2021-01-02 e/2021-01-30 b/7 t/18:00 k/120 s/Math f/80 and press Enter to add the session information into TutorBuddy.

add_recurring_session_example

  1. You will now see that a new recurring session is added in the session list under John Doe and is marked with an orange letter "R" to indicate a recurring session.

add_recurring_session_result_example

Deleting a tuition session: delete_session

Deletes the specified tuition session (Either an individiual session or the entire recurring session) from TutorBuddy.

Format: delete_session n/STUDENT_NAME i/SESSION_INDEX

  • STUDENT_NAME should match the exact student’s name in TutorBuddy
  • SESSION_INDEX refers to the session index for a particular student
  • Deletes the tuition session at the specified SESSION_INDEX
  • The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

:information_source: Note that deleting a student automatically deletes all sessions associated with the student as well.

Example 1:

  1. You would like to delete an existing session for John Doe on the date 01 Jan 2021 at 18:00.
  2. Locate the session index to delete on the right of the session card.

delete_session_example

  1. Using the index from step 2, type in delete_session n/John Doe i/1 and press Enter to deletes John Doe's first session.
  2. You will now see that the session has been deleted.

delete_session_result_example

Example 2:

  1. You would like to delete an existing recurring session for Alex Yeoh starting on the date 10 Mar 2021 to 07 Apr 2021.
  2. Locate the session index to delete on the right of the session card.

delete_session_recurring_example

  1. Using the index from step 2, type in delete_session n/Alex Yeoh i/1 and press Enter to deletes Alex Yeoh's first and only session.
  2. You will now see that the session has been deleted.

delete_session_recurring_ result_example

Deleting a recurring tuition session: delete_rec_session

Deletes a single session from an existing recurring tuition session of a specified student from TutorBuddy. Splits the original recurring session into two sessions that span the period exclusively before and after the deleted single session.

Format: delete_rec_session n/STUDENT_NAME i/SESSION_INDEX d/DATE

Arguments similar to delete_session command except the following:

  • DATE should be the date of the single session to be deleted

:information_source: Note that the DATE should fall under a valid session date that belongs in the specified recurring session range

Example:

  1. You would like to delete an existing session from a recurring session for John Doe on the date 16 Jan 2021 at 18:00.
  2. Locate the recurring session index to delete on the right of the session card.

delete_recurring_session_example

  1. Using the index from step 2, type in delete_rec_session n/John Doe i/1 d/2021-01-16 and press Enter to delete a single session from John Doe's recurring session.
  2. You will now see that this splits the original recurring session into two recurring session from 02 Jan 2021 to 09 Jan 2021 and another from 23 Jan 2021 to 30 Jan 2021.

delete_recurring_session_result_example

4.2.5 Fees

Calculating monthly session fee for a particular student: fee

Calculates and displays the total monthly session fee for a particular student for a particular month and year.

Format: fee n/STUDENT_NAME m/MONTH y/YEAR

  • STUDENT_NAME should match the exact student’s name in TutorBuddy
  • MONTH should be a positive integer between 1 and 12 inclusive
  • YEAR should be a positive integer between 1970 and 2037 inclusive

Example:

  1. You want to get the monthly fee payable by Alex Yeoh for March 2021.
  2. Type fee n/Alex Yeoh m/3 y/2021 and press Enter.

fee_example

  1. The result display box displays Alex Yeoh's monthly fee for March 2021.

fee_result_example

:information_source: Note that calculation of fee is only guaranteed to be accurate for totaled fees of up to $2,147,483,647. We do not expect a person to earn more than $2,147,483,647 a month, hence the fee calculation should be accurate for all actual users.

5. Command summary

General

Action Format
Help help
List all students and sessions list
Clear all students and sessions clear
Exit TutorBuddy exit

Students

Action Format Examples (if applicable)
Add add_student n/NAME p/STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS l/STUDY_LEVEL g/GUARDIAN_PHONE_NUMBER r/RELATIONSHIP_WITH_GUARDIAN add_student n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, Block 123, #01-01 l/Sec2 g/95421323 r/Mother
Find find_student KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS] find_student John Alex
Edit edit_student STUDENT_INDEX [n/NAME] [p/STUDENT_PHONE_NUMBER] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [l/STUDY_LEVEL] [g/GUARDIAN_PHONE_NUMBER] [r/RELATIONSHIP_WITH_GUARDIAN] edit_student 1 p/98825432 e/alexy@example.com a/Alex street, Block 123, #01-01
Delete delete_student STUDENT_INDEX delete_student 3
List students’ emails based on current list emails  

Tuition Sessions

Action Format Examples
Add Single Session add_session n/STUDENT_NAME d/DATE t/TIME k/DURATION s/SUBJECT f/FEE add_session n/John Doe d/2021-01-01 t/18:00 k/120 s/Biology f/80
Add Recurring Session add_rec_session n/STUDENT_NAME d/DATE e/LASTDATE b/INTERVAL t/TIME k/DURATION s/SUBJECT f/FEE add_rec_session n/John Doe d/2021-01-02 e/2021-01-30 b/7 t/18:00 k/120 s/Math f/80
Delete Session delete_session n/STUDENT_NAME i/SESSION_INDEX delete_session n/John Doe i/1
Delete Recurring Session delete_rec_session n/STUDENT_NAME i/SESSION_INDEX d/DATE delete_rec_session n/John Doe i/1 d/2021-01-16

Fees

Action Format Examples
Check fee fee n/STUDENT_NAME m/MONTH y/YEAR fee n/John Doe m/1 y/2021

6. 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 TutorBuddy home folder.

Q: May I edit the data file?
A: Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file. Tutorbuddy data are saved as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/tutorbuddy.json.
:exclamation: Caution: If your changes to the data file makes its format invalid, TutorBuddy may not function as intended.

7. Glossary

This glossary provides definitions for the special terms used in this user guide.

Single Session: One time session on a particular date.

Recurring Session: Repeating session that occurs every number of days.

URL: An address of a web page. e.g. https://www.google.com/

8. Appendix

Sample Data

Sample Data (Students)

sample_student

Sample Data (Sessions)

sample_session