User Guide

Tutorly is a desktop app designed for private tutors to manage their student and lesson records efficiently. It combines the speed and precision of typing commands with the convenience of a visual interface. If you prefer using your keyboard over clicking through menus, Tutorly allows you to complete student management tasks more quickly than traditional apps.

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Quick start
• UI Layout
  • Students Tab
  • Student Card
  • Sessions Tab
• Features
  • General Commands
    • Viewing help: help
    • Clearing all data: clear
    • Exiting the program: exit
    • Undoing a command: undo
  • Viewing tabs
    • Viewing students tab: student
    • Viewing student card: student STUDENT_IDENTIFIER
    • Viewing sessions tab: session
    • Viewing attendance for a session: session SESSION_ID
  • Student Management: student ACTION
    • Adding a student: add
    • Listing all students: list
    • Editing a student: edit
    • Searching for students: search
    • Deleting a student: delete
  • Session Management: session ACTION
    • Adding a session: add
    • Listing all sessions: list
    • Editing a session: edit
    • Searching for sessions: search
    • Deleting a session: delete
    • Enrolling a student to a session: enrol
    • Unenrolling a student from a session: unenrol
    • Marking attendance: mark
    • Unmarking attendance: unmark
    • Adding or updating feedback: feedback
  • Saving the data
  • Editing the data file
• FAQ
• Known issues
• Parameter summary
• Command summary
• Glossary
• Coming soon

Quick start

1. Install Java: Ensure you have Java 17 or above installed in your Computer. You can download the correct JDK for your operating system using this link.
   Mac users: Ensure you have the precise JDK version prescribed here.

2. Download Tutorly: Get the latest JAR file from here.

3. Move the file: Locate the downloaded tutorly.jar file and place it in a folder where you want to keep the app’s data. This will be the app’s home folder.

4. Open a command terminal - This is a tool that lets you run commands on your computer:
   • On Windows: Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter.
   • On Mac: Open Terminal from the Applications > Utilities folder.
   • On Linux: Open Terminal from your applications menu.

5. Navigate to the folder: In the terminal, type cd (with a space after). Then, click and hold the home folder, drag it into the terminal window and release it. Doing this will automatically insert the full path of the folder. Press Enter.

6. Run Tutorly: Type java -jar tutorly.jar and press Enter. This will start the application. A GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds, containing some sample data.
   

7. Execute a command: 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:

   • student list : Lists all students.

   • student add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 : Adds a student named John Doe to the app.

   • student delete 3 : Deletes the student with the ID 3.

   • session list : List all sessions.

   • clear : Deletes all students and sessions.

   • exit : Exits the app.

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

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UI Layout

Students Tab

Student Card

Sessions Tab

Features

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General Commands

Viewing help: help

Shows a window containing the command summary with a link to this user guide.

Format: help

Help window:

Clearing all data: clear

Clears all students and sessions from the app.

Format: clear

Example output:

Running the undo command after clear restores all students and sessions to before the command was run.

Exiting the program: exit

Closes the Tutorly app.

Format: exit

Undoing a command: undo

Undoes the last successfully executed command.

Commands that can be undone:

• The clear command.
• The add, delete and edit commands for student and session.
• The enrol, unenrol, mark, unmark and feedback commands for session.

Format: undo

• This command will undo the latest possible undoable command listed above.
• Commands that are not successfully executed due to errors will not be undone.
• Closing the app will also mean that previously ran commands will be permanent and no longer undoable.

Examples:

• session delete followed by undo will undo the delete command by adding the session back.
• If the following commands were ran in order: student edit, student add, student search, help, running undo will undo the student add command.
• Running undo after closing and re-opening the app will not undo any previous commands before the app was closed.

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Viewing tabs

Tip: The main window will automatically switch to the tab which shows the results of the command that has been executed.

Viewing students tab: student

Shows the student tab in the main window.

Format: student

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Viewing student card: student STUDENT_IDENTIFIER

Scrolls to the details of the student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER in the window of the student tab.

Format: student STUDENT_IDENTIFIER

Examples:

• student 1
• student John Doe

Example output:

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Viewing sessions tab: session

Shows the session tab in the main window.

Format: session

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Viewing attendance for a session: session SESSION_ID

Shows the attendance of students for a given session.

Format: session SESSION_ID

Examples:

• session 1
• session 5

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Student Management: student ACTION

The following commands all begin with student followed by an action word.

Adding a student: add

Adds a student to the app.

Format: student add n/NAME [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [m/MEMO] [t/TAG]…​

• Besides IDs, names are also used to uniquely identify students. Thus, duplicate students with the same name are not allowed.

Tip: A student can have any number of tags (including 0)

Examples:

• student add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 m/loves Math
• student add n/Mary Jane t/olevels e/maryjane@example.com p/81234567 t/priority
• student add n/Mary Jane when a student with the name Mary Jane already exists will show an error.

Example output:

Running the undo command after student add deletes the newly added student.

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Listing all students: list

Shows a list of all students.

Format: student list

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Editing a student: edit

Edits an existing student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER.

Format: student edit STUDENT_IDENTIFIER [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [m/MEMO] [t/TAG]…​

• At least one of the optional parameters must be provided.
• Existing values will be updated to the input values.
• When editing tags, the existing tags of the person will be removed i.e adding of tags is not cumulative.
• You can remove all the person’s tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.
• Besides IDs, names are also used to uniquely identify students. Thus, duplicate students with the same name are not allowed.

Examples:

• student edit John Doe p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com Edits the phone number and email address of John Doe to be 91234567 and johndoe@example.com respectively.
• student edit 2 n/Betsy Crower t/ Edits the name of the student with an ID of 2 to be Betsy Crower and clears all existing tags.
• student edit 3 n/Betsy Crower when another student named Betsy Crower already exists will show an error.

Example output:

Running the undo command after student edit reverts the student’s details back to before the edit was made.

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Searching for students: search

Finds students whose names or phone numbers contain any of the given keywords, or is enrolled to a specific session.

Format: student search [ses/SESSION_ID] [n/NAME_KEYWORDS] [p/PHONE_KEYWORDS]

• The search is case-insensitive. e.g hans will match Hans
• The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. Hans Bo will match Bo Hans
• Incomplete words will still be matched e.g. Han will match Hans or 8765 will match 91238765
• Students matching at least one keyword or are enrolled to the session will be returned. e.g. ses/1 n/Hans Bo will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang and other students who attended session with the id 1.

Examples:

• student search n/John p/9123 8765 returns johnathan, John Doe and other students with a phone number that contains 9123 or 8765.
• student search ses/3 n/alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li and other students who attended session with the id 3.
• student search will simply return all students.

Example output (with matching keywords highlighted):

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Deleting a student: delete

Deletes the student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER.

Format: student delete STUDENT_IDENTIFIER

Examples:

• student delete 2 deletes the student with the ID of 2.
• student delete John Doe deletes the student with the name John Doe.

Running the undo command after student delete adds the deleted student back.

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Session Management: session ACTION

The following commands all begin with session followed by an action word.

Adding a session: add

Adds a session to the app.

Format: session add t/TIMESLOT sub/SUBJECT

TIMESLOT must be of the format: dd MMM yyyy HH:mm-HH:mm for sessions within a day, or dd MMM yyyy HH:mm-dd MMM yyyy HH:mm for sessions spanning across multiple days.

Examples:

• session add t/30 Mar 2025 11:30-13:30 sub/Math adds a session with the subject Math on 30 March 2025 from 11.30am to 13.30pm.
• session add t/30 Mar 2025 23:00-31 Mar 2025 01:00 sub/Eng adds a session with the subject Eng which lasts 2 hours from 30 March 2025 11pm to 31 March 2025 1am.

Running the undo command after session add deletes the newly added session.

Example output:

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Listing all sessions: list

Shows a list of all sessions.

Format: session list

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Editing a session: edit

Edits an existing session.

Format: session edit SESSION_ID [t/TIMESLOT] [sub/SUBJECT]

• Edits the session with the SESSION_ID.
• At least one of the optional parameters must be provided.
• Existing values will be updated to the input values.
• TIMESLOT must be of the format: dd MMM yyyy HH:mm-HH:mm for sessions within a day, or dd MMM yyyy HH:mm-dd MMM yyyy HH:mm for sessions spanning across multiple days.

Examples:

• session edit 3 t/11 Apr 2025 11:30-13:30 Edits the date of the session with the ID 3 to be on 11 April 2025 from 11.30am to 1.30pm.
• session edit 2 t/20 June 2025 23:00-21 June 2025 01:00 sub/Math Edits the date and subject of the session with the ID 2 to last from 20 June 2025 11pm to 21 June 2025 1am with the subject Math.

Running the undo command after session edit reverts the session’s details back to before the edit was made.

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Searching for sessions: search

Finds sessions on a particular date or on a subject which matches any of the given keywords.

Format: session search [d/DATE] [sub/SUBJECT_KEYWORDS]

• The keyword search is case-insensitive. e.g math will match Math
• The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. Math Eng will match Eng Math
• Incomplete words will still be matched e.g. Mat will match Math
• Sessions whose timeslots contain the given date or have a subject that match at least one keyword will be returned. e.g. sub/Mat Eng will return sessions with subjects Math, English

Examples:

• session search d/22 May 2025 returns sessions with timeslots that include 22 May 2025.
• session search sub/Math d/11 Jun 2025 returns sessions with subjects Math, Mathematics and sessions with timeslots that include 11 June 2025.
  
• session search will simply return all sessions.

Example output (with matching keywords and date highlighted):

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Deleting a session: delete

Deletes the session with the given ID.

Format: session delete SESSION_ID

Examples:

• session delete 2 deletes the session with the ID of 2.

Running the undo command after session delete adds the deleted session back.

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Enrolling a student to a session: enrol

Enrols a student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER to a session.

Format: session enrol STUDENT_IDENTIFIER ses/SESSION_ID

• The attendance for the student to the session upon enrolment is marked as absent by default.

Examples:

• session enrol 2 ses/3 enrols a student with an ID of 2 to attend a session with an ID of 3.
• session enrol John Doe ses/4 enrols a student with the name John Doe to attend a session with an ID of 4.

Example output:

Running the undo command after session enrol will unenrol the student from the session.

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Unenrolling a student from a session: unenrol

Unenrols a student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER from a session.

Format: session unenrol STUDENT_IDENTIFIER ses/SESSION_ID

Examples:

• session unenrol 2 ses/3 unenrols a student with an ID of 2 from a session with an ID of 3.
• session unenrol John Doe ses/4 unenrols a student with the name John Doe from a session with an ID of 4.

Running the undo command after session unenrol will enrol the student back into the session.

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Marking attendance: mark

Marks the attendance of a student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER for a session.

Format: session mark STUDENT_IDENTIFIER ses/SESSION_ID

Examples:

• session mark 2 ses/3 marks the attendance for the student with an ID of 2 for a session with an ID of 3 as present.
• session mark John Doe ses/4 marks the attendance for a student with the name John Doe for a session with an ID of 4 as present.

Running the undo command after session mark will unmark the student’s attendance in the session.

Tip: You can also click on the checkbox next to a student’s name in a session’s attendance list to toggle the marking of attendance.

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Unmarking attendance: unmark

Unmarks the attendance of a student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER for a session.

Format: session unmark STUDENT_IDENTIFIER ses/SESSION_ID

Examples:

• session unmark 2 ses/3 unmarks the attendance for the student with an ID of 2 for a session with an ID of 3.
• session unmark John Doe ses/4 unmarks the attendance for a student with the name John Doe for a session with an ID of 4.

Running the undo command after session unmark will mark the student’s attendance in the session.

Tip: You can also click on the checkbox next to a student’s name in a session’s attendance list to toggle the marking of attendance.

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Adding or updating feedback: feedback

Adds or updates the feedback for a student with the specified STUDENT_IDENTIFIER in a session.

Format: session feedback STUDENT_IDENTIFIER ses/SESSION_ID f/FEEDBACK

• If no feedback exists, a new feedback will be added for the student in the session.
• If a feedback already exists, the old feedback will be overwritten, i.e. Only one feedback is allowed per student per session.
• You can remove a previously set feedback by typing f/ without specifying any feedback after it.
• Feedback for a student is viewable in the attendance list of a session.

Examples:

• session feedback 2 ses/3 f/Good Job! updates the feedback Good Job! for the student with an ID of 2 for a session with an ID of 3.
• session feedback John Doe ses/4 f/Sick leave updates the feedback Sick leave for a student with the name John Doe for a session with an ID of 4.
• session feedback Betsy Crower ses/4 f/ clears the feedback for a student with the name Betsy Crower for a session with an ID of 4.

Example output:

Running the undo command after session feedback reverts the feedback back to before the command was run.

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Saving the data

Tutorly 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

Tutorly data are saved automatically as a JSON file [home_folder]/data/tutorly.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, Tutorly 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 the Tutorly 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.

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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 Tutorly home folder.

Q: What is the difference between the student list and student commands?
A: The student list command will list all students in Tutorly. The student command simply switches the active tab to students and preserves results from any previous student search commands. The same applies to session and session list.

Q: What is the difference between the memo and feedback?
A: Memo is a short note you can add on to a student’s details, while feedback is specifically for a student’s performance in a particular session.

Q: How should I fill in the STUDENT_IDENTIFIER parameter?
A: The STUDENT_IDENTIFIER can either be the student’s ID or their full name, both of which are viewable from the UI.

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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.

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Parameter summary

Command summary

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Glossary

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Coming soon

Planned features that will be added in the coming versions.

1. A redo command in case you want to undo your undo.
2. student search via other fields including tags.
3. class management commands that handles adding of multiple sessions and mass enrolling/marking of attendance for students.
4. Viewing sessions each student is enrolled in via the students tab.

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