User Guide

GreyBook is a desktop application that helps NUS clubs and societies efficiently manage contacts and track attendance. It combines the speed and precision of a Command Line Interface (CLI) with the convenience of a Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Optimized for users who prefer typing commands, GreyBook enables fast, streamlined management — letting you accomplish more in less time than with traditional GUI-based applications.

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About This Guide

Target Users

This guide is designed for leaders and committee members of NUS clubs or societies who:

• Manage members' contact details, emails, and student IDs
• Track attendance for meetings and events
• Prefer efficient, keyboard-driven workflows

What You'll Need

Prior Knowledge:

• Basic computer literacy (e.g., managing files, running applications)
• Familiarity with command-line interfaces is helpful but not required

Technical Requirements:

• Java 17 or higher installed on your computer
• At least 50MB of available storage space
• Compatible with any modern operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux)

How to Use This Guide

• New users: Start with Quick Start for setup and basic usage
• Existing users: Jump to Command Format Summary for command syntax

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Quick Start

Installation

1. Check Java Version

   Ensure you have Java 17 or above installed on your computer.

   java -version
   

   How to Use Terminal?

   • Mac Users: Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal in search bar to open.
   • Windows Users: In the Windows Start menu search bar, type Terminal to open.
   • Linux Users: Press Ctrl + Alt + T to instantly open a terminal window
   
   

   Mac users: Follow this guide.
   Windows users: Follow this guide.
   Linux users: Follow this guide.
   

2. Download GreyBook

   Download the latest .jar file from the Releases Page.
   Copy the file to a folder you want to use as your home folder — this is where your GreyBook data will be stored.

3. Launch the Application

   Open a terminal, navigate (cd) to that folder, and run:

   java -jar greybook.jar
   

   For example:

   cd Downloads
   java -jar greybook.jar
   

   macOS users: If you see a security prompt the first time, right-click the .jar → Open → confirm.

4. First Look

   GreyBook should launch within a few seconds. A few sample students are preloaded so you can try out basic commands immediately.

   

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Your First Commands

Let's try a few essential commands:

1. Add a Student

   add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com i/A0000000Y
   

2. Mark Attendance as Present

   mark A0000000Y p/
   

3. Unmark Attendance

   unmark A0000000Y
   

4. Find a Student

   find i/A0000000Y
   

Refer to the Command Format Summary for the full list of supported commands.

Command Format Summary

Notes about the command format:

• Words in UPPER_CASE are called parameters, things you replace.
  e.g. in add n/NAME, replace NAME with a student's name, like add n/John Doe.

• Items in square brackets are optional.
  e.g. n/NAME [t/TAG] can be used as n/John Doe t/member or as n/John Doe.

• Items in round brackets are mutually exclusive.
  e.g. (INDEX | STUDENTID) can be used as 1 or as A0000000Y.

• Items with …​ after them can be used multiple times, including zero times.
  e.g. [t/TAG]…​ can be used as   (0 times), t/member (1 time), t/member t/exco (2 times) 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.

• Extra 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 a prefix for the command occurs in the argument, you may use quotation marks " to escape it. e.g. SomeCommandName p/"p-Slash t/ contains t-Slash" t/tag

• If you want to use quotation marks " in your argument, you have to escape it with a backslash \ e.g. SomeCommandName t/Quote: \"

• Likewise if you wanted to use backslashes \ in your argument, you have to escape it with a backslash. e.g. SomeCommandName t/Backslash: \\

• 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. Type them out manually instead!

Command Summary

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Core Features

Managing Students

GreyBook helps you store, edit, and track students' details with precision.

Adding Students : add

Command: add n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL i/STUDENTID [t/TAG]…​

Parameters:

• n/NAME: Student's full name (letters, spaces, and certain special characters allowed)
• p/PHONE: 8-digit Singapore phone number or International phone numbers (following E.164 Standards)
• e/EMAIL: Valid email address
• i/STUDENTID: Student's NUS ID (e.g., A0000000Y)
• t/TAG: Optional categories (e.g., t/committee or t/freshman)

Examples:

add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com i/A0000000Y
add n/Betsy Crowe p/87654321 e/betsycrowe@example.com i/A1111111M t/operations-team

Expected Output:

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Editing Students; edit

Command: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [i/STUDENTID] [t/TAG]…​

Parameters:

• INDEX: The index number in the displayed student list (must be positive)
• Any combination of optional fields can be updated

Behavior:

• Updates replace existing values
• When editing tags, the old tags are replaced entirely
• Use t/ (empty) to remove all tags

Examples:

edit 1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com
edit 2 n/Betsy Crower t/

Expected Output:

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Listing All Students: list

Command: list

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Finding Students: find

Command: find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]…​ [i/ID_FRAGMENT]…​

Parameters:

• KEYWORD: The name of the student
• i/ID_FRAGMENT: A substring of a student ID (e.g. 0Y from A0000000Y)j
• You can provide any number of keywords and ID fragments
• The search is case-insensitive. e.g. hans will match Hans

Students matching at least one keyword or one student ID fragment will be returned. e.g. Hans Bo will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang

Examples:

• find John returns john and John Doe
• find i/12345 returns anyone with student IDs containing 12345 (e.g. A0123456J)
• find i/12345 i/A0123456J returns IDs containing 12345 or exactly A0123456J
• find i/12345 alex returns students named like Alex Yeoh or with IDs containing 12345
• find alex i/12345 returns same as above (order does not matter)
• find alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li
  

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Deleting Students: delete

Command: delete (INDEX | STUDENTID)

Parameters:

• INDEX: The index number in the displayed student list (must be positive)
• STUDENTID: Student's NUS ID (e.g., A0000000Y)

Notes:

• Provide either an index or a student ID — not both

Examples:

• list followed by delete 2 deletes the 2nd student in the GreyBook.
• find Betsy followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st student in the results of the find command.
• delete A0123456J deletes the student with student ID A0123456J from the GreyBook.

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Clearing all Students: clear

Command: clear

Deletes all entries from GreyBook.

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Managing Attendance

GreyBook helps you keep track of students' attendance efficiently.

Marking Attendance: mark

Command: mark (INDEX | STUDENTID) (p/ | a/ | l/ | e/)

Flags:

Notes:

• Provide either an index or a student ID — not both
• Only one attendance flag can be used at a time
• Attendance status replaces any previous mark

Examples:

mark 1 p/
mark A0000000Y e/

Expected Output:

Marked student A0000000Y as Present.

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Unmarking Attendance: unmark

Command: unmark (INDEX | STUDENTID | 'ALL')

Examples:

unmark 2
unmark A0000000Y
unmark all

Expected Output:

Unmarked attendance for A0000000Y.

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Application Controls

Greybook also offers some core commands that are essential in every application.

Getting Help: help

Command: help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

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Exiting the Application: exit

Command: exit

Closes GreyBook.

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Miscellaneous Features

Terminal-like Behaviour

Similar to a typical CLI application, use the up or down arrows to navigate your command history. You can also use Ctrl+C to clear the current command!

The command history is saved in the hard disk automatically after every successful command, saved automatically as a JSON file at: [JAR file location]/history.json

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Automatic Saving of Data

GreyBook data is saved in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need to save manually.

The data is saved as a JSON file at:
[JAR file location]/data/greybook.json

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Parameter Details

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FAQs

Q: What operating systems does GreyBook support?
A: Any system that can run Java 17+ (Windows, macOS, Linux). If Java runs, GreyBook runs.

Q: Do I need to install anything besides GreyBook?
A: Yes, Java 17 or newer. Check with java -version. If it's older, install a current Long Term Support Java version.

Q: How do I update GreyBook to a new version?
A: Download the new .jar and run it. Your existing data in data/greybook.json will be picked up automatically if you keep it in the same folder.

Q: Will I lose my data when I update?
A: No. The data file is separate from the app. Keep data/greybook.json with the .jar and you're good.

Q: Where exactly is my data?
A: In [JAR file location]/data/greybook.json.

Q: Can I move GreyBook to another computer (or a USB drive)?
A: Yes. Copy the .jar and the data folder together, as well the config and preferences files, config.json and preferences.json respectively. If you would to copy the command history as well, copy over the file history.json. On the new computer, double-click the .jar.

Q: Is there an undo command?
A: Not currently. Actions like delete and clear are immediate and irreversible. Consider regular backups of data/greybook.json.

Q: How do I back up my data?
A: Close GreyBook and copy data/greybook.json to a safe place (cloud/storage drive).

Q: I edited the JSON and something broke. What now?
A: Close GreyBook, restore your backup greybook.json, then reopen GreyBook. Avoid manual edits unless you're confident.

Q: Are name searches case-sensitive?
A: No. hans matches Hans.

Q: Why doesn't find Han match Hans?
A: find matches full words. Use the full word or multiple keywords.

Q: How do tags work?
A: Add any number: t/member t/colleague. Editing tags replaces the old set. Use t/ (empty) to clear all tags.

Q: Can I store addresses or other fields?
A: Only the fields shown in the command formats are supported (e.g., n/, p/, e/, i/, and tags).

Q: Does GreyBook save automatically?
A: Yes. Changes are saved to greybook.json right after each command.

Q: How many students can I store?
A: There's no hard limit in the app; performance depends on your computer.

Q: How do I reset GreyBook to factory data?
A: Close the app, delete data/greybook.json, and reopen GreyBook (you'll start fresh with sample data).

Q: What characters are allowed in the name field?
A: Only alphabets and the following special characters are allowed: (Empty space), ,, (, ), /, ., @, -, '.

Q: My name contains a character that is not allowed in the name. How should I enter my name?
A: Please use standard English (Latin) letters only. For example, if your name is "محمد", you can enter it as "Mohamed". If your name is "李华", you can enter it as "Li Hua". Similarly, if your name contains special characters such as accents or diacritics (e.g. "José", "Strauß"), please remove them — e.g. "Jose", "Straus".

Q: Why are some special characters allowed but not others?
A: This is due to the limitation of the program, as we are unable to support every single possible unicode character. We defer this decision to Singapore's Myinfo for supported special characters.

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Appendix

Glossary

Student: A member of the club or society. Tag: A label used to categorize students (e.g., "committee", "freshman"). Attendance: Record of presence, absence, lateness, or excused status at an event.

Technical Specifications

System Requirements:

• Java Version: 17 or higher
• Memory: 512MB minimum
• Storage: 50MB available space
• Display: 1024x768 minimum resolution

Supported Platforms:

• Windows 10/11
• macOS 10.14 or later
• Linux (Ubuntu 18.04+, CentOS 7+, etc.)

Data Storage:

• Stored locally in JSON format
• No internet connection required
• Data is portable and human-readable

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Contact Information

Development Team: Project maintained by CS2103T-F13-4 team GitHub: AY2526S1-CS2103T-F13-4/tp

Support:

• Technical issues: Submit a GitHub Issue
• Feature requests: Open a Discussion
• General questions: Refer to FAQ or contact via GitHub Discussions

Version Information:

• Current Version: 1.4
• Last Updated: October 2025
• License: MIT License

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Thank you for using GreyBook! We hope it helps your club run smoothly and efficiently.