Course Management System (CMS) is a desktop application designed for NUS course coordinators who need to efficiently manage large cohorts, tutor assignments, and student records. Optimized for speed and productivity, CMS leverages a Command Line Interface (CLI) to enable users to perform tasks quickly and accurately.

Quick start

  1. Ensure Java 17 is installed.
    • Check with: java --version

  2. Download the latest .jar file from here.

  3. Create or choose a folder as your CMS home folder (e.g. C:\Users\<you>\Documents\cms on Windows).

  4. Copy the downloaded jar into that folder.

  5. Open a terminal, cd into that folder, and run java -jar cms.jar. A GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains sample data. Ui

  6. Type the command in the command box and press Enter to execute it. Typing help and pressing Enter opens the help window. Refer to Command summary for a quick list of available commands and formats.

  7. CMS stores data under the home folder in data/CMS.json.
:bulb: Tip: To transfer your data to another computer, install CMS there and overwrite the empty data/CMS.json file it creates with your existing data/CMS.json.

Command summary

Action Format
Help help
List list
Add add n/NAME id/NUS_ID role/ROLE soc/SOC_USERNAME gh/GITHUB_USERNAME e/EMAIL p/PHONE t/TUTORIAL_GROUP [tag/TAG]...

e.g. add n/John Doe id/A0234567B role/tutor soc/johndoe gh/johndoe e/johndoe@u.nus.edu p/91234567 t/01
Edit edit INDEX [n/NAME] [id/NUS_ID] [role/ROLE] [soc/SOC_USERNAME] [gh/GITHUB_USERNAME] [e/EMAIL] [p/PHONE] [t/TUTORIAL_GROUP] [tag/TAG]...

e.g. edit 2 p/98765432 e/johndoe@example.com
Find find a/KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]...
find n/KEYWORD [MORE_NAME_KEYWORDS]...
find id/NUS_ID [MORE_NUS_IDS]...

e.g. find n/jane n/eunice id/A0123456B
Delete delete INDEX
delete INDEX [MORE_INDEXES]...
delete id/NUS_ID

e.g. delete 1 3 5
Clear clear
Exit exit

Features

:information_source: Notes about command format:

  • A command has a command word plus fields.
  • Command word: add, edit, find, …
  • Prefixes identify each field, e.g. n/, id/, e/.
  • Words in UPPER_CASE are values to provide.
  • Items in square brackets are optional.
  • ... means the field can be repeated.
  • Parameters can be in any order.
  • For commands without parameters (help, list, exit, clear), extra text is ignored.
  • e.g. add n/John Doe id/A0234567B role/tutor soc/johndoe gh/johndoe e/johndoe@u.nus.edu p/91234567 t/01 tag/mentor

Viewing help : help

Shows a message with a hyperlink to this User Guide.

Format: help

Listing all student and tutor records : list

Shows all records currently stored in CMS.

Format: list

Adding a student / tutor : add

Adds a student or tutor record to CMS.

All required fields must be valid (See Fields and accepted formats).

Format: add n/NAME id/NUS_ID role/ROLE soc/SOC_USERNAME gh/GITHUB_USERNAME e/EMAIL p/PHONE t/TUTORIAL_GROUP [tag/TAG]...

Examples:

  • add n/David Tan id/A0211111C role/student soc/david1 gh/davidtan99 e/david@u.nus.edu p/97654321 t/05
  • add n/John Doe id/A0234567B role/tutor soc/johndoe gh/johndoe e/johndoe@u.nus.edu p/91234567 t/01 tag/python-experienced
:information_source: Note: Add is rejected if unique fields conflict with an existing person (e.g. same NUS ID / SoC username / GitHub username / email).

Editing a student / tutor : edit

Edits an existing student or tutor record in CMS.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [id/NUS_ID] [role/ROLE] [soc/SOC_USERNAME] [gh/GITHUB_USERNAME] [e/EMAIL] [p/PHONE] [t/TUTORIAL_GROUP] [tag/TAG]...

  • Edits the person at the specified INDEX.
  • INDEX must be a positive integer (1, 2, 3, …).
  • At least one optional field must be provided.
  • Existing values are replaced by the input values.
  • When tag/ is used, existing tags are replaced (not cumulative).
  • You can clear all tags by using tag/ with no value.
  • Edited values must satisfy the same field rules as add (see Fields and accepted formats).

Examples:

  • edit 1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com
  • edit 2 n/Betsy Crower tag/
  • edit 3 id/A0654321B role/student soc/betsy3 gh/betsycrowe t/07

Finding students / tutors : find

Finds persons whose names or NUS IDs contain any of the given keywords.

Format:

  • find a/KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]...
  • find n/KEYWORD [MORE_NAME_KEYWORDS]...
  • find id/NUS_ID [MORE_NUS_IDS]...

  • find n/KEYWORD [MORE_NAME_KEYWORDS]... id/NUS_ID [MORE_NUS_IDS]...

  • Prefix is required (a/, n/, id/).
  • Search is case-insensitive for names. e.g. n/hans will match Hans.
  • Order of keywords does not matter for name search. e.g. find n/Hans n/Bo will match find n/Bo n/Hans.
  • Full words are matched for names. e.g. find n/Han will not match Hans.
  • id/ matching is case-insensitive. e.g. id/a0123456b matches A0123456B.
  • Mixed prefixes are allowed in one command, and results are returned by union (OR across prefixes).

Examples:

  • find a/jane
  • find n/jane n/eunice
  • find n/jane eunice
  • find n/jane n/eunice id/A0123456B id/A1234567C
  • find id/A0123456B A1234567C
  • find id/A0123456B id/A1234567C

Deleting a student / tutor : delete

Deletes one or more persons by displayed index, or by NUS ID.

Format:

  • delete INDEX
  • delete INDEX [MORE_INDEXES]...

  • delete id/NUS_ID

  • For index-based delete, each index refers to the displayed list and must be a positive integer.

Examples:

  • delete 2
  • delete 1 3 5
  • delete id/A0234567B

Purging all records : clear

Deletes all records from CMS.

Format: clear

:exclamation: Caution: This command deletes all records and is irreversible from within the app.

Exiting the program : exit

Exits CMS.

Format: exit

Saving data

CMS saves data automatically after commands that modify data.

Editing the data file

CMS data is stored in [CMS home folder]/data/CMS.json.

:exclamation: Caution: Invalid edits can cause CMS to reset your data file on next launch. Back up CMS.json before editing manually.

Fields and accepted formats

Use this section as a quick checklist for add and edit.

n/NAME

  • Letters, numbers, and spaces only.
  • Cannot be blank.
  • Case sensitivity: case-sensitive (stored as entered).
  • Valid: n/John Doe
  • Invalid: n/John@Doe

id/NUS_ID

  • Must be A + 7 digits + uppercase letter (e.g. A0234567B).
  • Must be unique in CMS.
  • Case sensitivity: case-sensitive (A and trailing letter must be uppercase).
  • Valid: id/A0234567B
  • Invalid: id/a0234567b

role/ROLE

  • Must be exactly student or tutor.
  • Case sensitivity: case-sensitive (lowercase only).
  • Valid: role/student
  • Invalid: role/Student

soc/SOC_USERNAME

  • Either a SoC-style username or a valid NUS ID format.
  • SoC-style username rules:
    • 5 to 8 characters.
    • Lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens only.
    • Cannot start or end with a hyphen.
    • No spaces.
  • Must be unique in CMS.
  • Case sensitivity: case-sensitive.
  • Valid: soc/john1
  • Invalid: soc/-john

gh/GITHUB_USERNAME

  • 1-39 characters.
  • Letters, digits, and hyphens only.
  • Cannot start/end with -.
  • Must be unique in CMS.
  • Case sensitivity: case-sensitive.
  • Valid: gh/jane-lim123
  • Invalid: gh/-jane

e/EMAIL

  • Must be a valid email format.
  • Case sensitivity: case-sensitive.
  • Valid: e/johndoe@u.nus.edu
  • Invalid: e/johndoe@u

p/PHONE

  • Digits only.
  • At least 3 digits.
  • Case sensitivity: not applicable (numeric only).
  • Valid: p/91234567
  • Invalid: p/+6591234567

t/TUTORIAL_GROUP

  • Must be 01 to 99.
  • Case sensitivity: not applicable (numeric only).
  • Valid: t/01
  • Invalid: t/100

tag/TAG

  • Optional, repeatable.
  • Alphanumeric characters only.
  • No spaces inside a tag.
  • Cannot start or end with a hyphen.
  • Repeated tags for the same person are kept only once.
  • Case sensitivity: case-sensitive.
  • Valid: tag/python
  • Invalid: tag/needs help

Known issues

  1. When using multiple screens, if you move the app to a secondary screen and later switch to one screen, the GUI may open off-screen. Delete preferences.json before starting again.
  2. If the Help Window is minimized, triggering help again may keep it minimized, and requires you to manually restore it.

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another computer?
A: Install CMS on the other computer, launch once, then replace the new data/CMS.json with your old one.

Q: Where are my preferences saved?
A: Preferences are saved in preferences.json in your CMS working directory.

Q: Can I undo delete or clear?
A: No. There is currently no undo feature, so keep backups of data/CMS.json if needed.

Q: Why is my find command not returning results?
A: Check your prefixes and input format (a/, n/, id/), and verify that full-word matching rules are met for name searches.