User Guide

Welcome to TA²’s User Guide!

Teaching Assistant’s Assistant (TA²) is a desktop app that offers a convenient way for teaching assistants from the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore to manage student contacts and keep track of students’ assignment submissions.

TA² is 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, TA² can get your contact and assignment management tasks done faster than traditional GUI apps!

This user guide provides you with installation instructions, guide on features of TA² and some FAQs.

Through this guide, you may encounter the following icons.

Caution: Warns you about potential unintended or undesirable behaviours.
Notes: Provides information that you are required to know.
Tip: Provides additional information that are good to know.

If you are a new user, check out the Quick start section to help you get started with TA².

For advanced users, the Command summary section gives you an overview of all the commands TA² offers.

Last Updated: 8 November 2021

Quick start
UI Design
Features
FAQ
Command summary
Glossary

Quick start

Ensure you have Java 11 or later installed in your Computer.
Download the latest ta2.jar file from here.
Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for TA².
Double-click the file to start the app. The window similar to the one shown below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
You can warm up with some commands by typing them in the command input box and pressing Enter to execute it.

Some example commands you can try:
- list: Lists all of your contacts.
- addn/John Doe m/CS2100 e/e1234567@u.nus.edu: Adds a student named John Doe into your contact list.
- show1: Displays the assignments of the first student in your assignment list.
- gived/Assignment 1 by/27/3/2022: Gives an assignment, Assignment 1 that is due by 27 Mar 2022 at 11.59pm, to the first student in your contact list.
Refer to the Features below for more details of each command.

Tip:

If you are unsure about where the contact list, assignment list or command input box are, check out the Ui Design section.

UI Design

UiExplanation

Command Input Box: Type your commands here!
Result Message Box: Displays the details of the result of your commands.
Contact List: Displays your list of students and their relevant information.
Assignment List: Displays a specified student’s assignments.

Features

Notes about the command format:

Words in UPPER_CASE are the parameters to be supplied by the user.
- e.g. in add n/NAME, NAME is a parameter which can be used as add n/John Doe.
Items in square brackets are optional.
- e.g. n/NAME [t/TAG] can be used as n/John Doe t/T17 or as n/John Doe
Items with … after them can be used multiple times including zero times.
- e.g. [t/TAG]… can be used as (i.e. 0 times), t/T17, t/T17 t/Group1 etc.
Parameters can be in any order.
- e.g. if the command specifies n/NAME e/EMAIL, e/EMAIL n/NAME is also acceptable.
If a command requires INDEX as an input, only one input for INDEX is expected. INDEX must be an integer from 1 to 10,000.
If a parameter is expected only once in the command, but you specify it multiple times, only the last occurrence of the parameter will be taken, unless otherwise mentioned in the command description.
- e.g. if you specify m/cs2103 m/cs2101, only m/cs2101 will be taken.
Extraneous 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.

Viewing help: `help`

Shows a help window with a link directing you to this user guide.

Alternatively, you can click the Help button in the top left corner or press F1 on your keyboard to open up the help window (Shown in the image below).

help message

Format: help

Possible usage:

The help window will direct you back to this user guide from TA² if you need details of any available features.

Adding a student: `add`

Adds a student to your contact list with their relevant information.

Format: add n/NAME e/EMAIL m/MODULE [t/TAG]…

Note:

Duplicate NAME is not allowed.
- e.g. add n/Alex Yeoh... is not allowed if there is already a student named Alex Yeoh in your contact list.
Extra spaces before, after, and between names will be removed.
A student’s MODULE must follow the format as shown here.
Only student’s initials and module code will be capitalised on the displayed student list.
- e.g. n/alex yeoh, n/DAVID LI will be converted to Alex Yeoh and David Li respectively.
- e.g. cs2100, GER1000t will be converted to CS2100 and GER1000T respectively.
A student’s EMAIL must follow the format as shown here.
Duplicate EMAIL is not allowed.
- e.g. add e/E1234567@u.nus.edu is not allowed if there is already a student with the same email.
TAG can only accept alphanumeric characters with no spaces in between.
A student can have any number of TAG (including 0).

Examples:

add n/John Doe m/CS1010 e/e1234567@u.nus.edu
add n/Betsy Crowe e/e0234567@u.nus.edu m/CS2103T
add n/alex yeoh e/e1234123@u.nus.edu m/GEQ1000 t/T17

Possible Usage:

You can use add to add new students into the contact list when you receive new students.
TAG can be used to separate students by their tutorial group or to mark out students that require more attention.

Finding students with matching input keywords: `find`

Filters and displays your contacts who match at least one of the input keywords.

Format: find [n/NAME]… [m/MODULE]… [t/TAG]…

Note:

There should be at least one prefix.
Ordering of prefixes are not strict and presence of multiple keywords are acceptable.
Keywords are case-insensitive
- e.g. cs1101s will match CS1101S.
Each part of name separated by space will be matched.
- e.g. n/Hans or n/Bo will both match Hans Bo.
- e.g. n/Sam will match Sam Tan but not Samuel Lee.
Students’ names matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search).
- e.g. n/Hans Bo will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang.
Prefixes with empty keywords will not match anyone.
- e.g. find n/ m/ t/ will return 0 students
Module codes must strictly follow the module naming convention shown here.

Tip:

We can search for multiple fields.
- e.g. m/CS1101S CS2103T or m/CS1101S m/CS2103T will return people who take either modules.

Examples:

find n/Bernice returns the students who have Bernice in their name.
find m/CS1101S returns the students taking module CS1101S.
find t/Lab15 returns the students with the tag Lab15.
find n/Bernice m/MA1521 returns the students who have Bernice in their name or are taking module MA1521.
find m/CS1231 t/Group04 returns the students taking module CS1231 or with the tag Group04.
find n/Evian m/CS2103T t/Group10 returns the students who match at least one of the requirements: have Evian in their name, taking moduleCS2103T or with the tag Group10.
find t/E34 n/Brian m/GEQ1000 returns the students who match at least one of the requirements: haveBrian in their name, taking moduleGEQ1000 or with the tag E34.
find n/alex david m/cs1231 cs2103t returns the students who at least satisfy one of the requirements: have david or alex in their names, taking modules cs1231 or cs2103t (Shown in the image below).

Possible Usage:

You can use find to help you find a specific student.
You can use find to help you filter the list to show only students of a specific:
- MODULE if you are teaching multiple modules.
- TAG if you use it to separate students by tutorial groups.

Listing all students: `list`

Shows a list of all students in the contact list.

Format: list

Possible Usage:

After using find to filter the list, you can use list to reset the contact list to show all students.

Deleting a student: `delete`

Deletes the specified student from the contact list.

Format: delete INDEX

Deletes the student from the contact list at the specified INDEX.

Examples:

delete 2 deletes the second student in the contact list (if 2nd student exists).

Possible usage:

You can use delete to delete any student that you do not need to keep track of anymore.

Editing a student: `edit`

Modifies any part of the student’s information.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [m/MODULE] [e/EMAIL] [t/TAG]…

Edits the student’s relevant information at the specified INDEX.

Note:

The index refers to the index number of the student in the displayed contact list.
The index must be a positive integer and must not exceed number of students displayed in your contact list 1, 2, 3, …(till the index of the last student).
If you have two identical prefixes with the edit command, only the last prefix will be used for the edit (except for prefix t/).
Require at least one prefix to edit.

Tip:

You can modify several parts of the student information at the same time.
If you wish to remove the tags for a student, simply type t/ prefix without any parameters.

Examples:

edit 2 e/e0001111@u.nus.edu replaces the second student’s email in the displayed contact list with e0001111@u.nus.edu.
edit 1 n/Brob changes first student’s name in the displayed contact list to Brob.
edit 1 n/Brob n/New m/cs1101 m/cs1231s changes first student’s name in the displayed contact list to New and module to cs1231s.

Possible Usage:

You can use edit to make changes to any mistakes in a student’s information.

Showing a student’s assignments: `show`

Shows the assignments of the specified student in your assignment list.

Format: show INDEX

Shows the assignments of the student at the specified INDEX of the displayed contact list.

Note:

The assignment list is always sorted by the date and status.

Assignments with COMPLETED status will be at the bottom of the list.
Assignments with PENDING status will be at the top of the list.
Assignments with earlier due dates will be ranked higher within the same status.

Examples:

The index refers to the index shown in the displayed student list.
show 1 renders the first student’s assignments on the assignment list (Shown in the image below).

Possible Usage:

You can use show to display the assignments of the student you would like to see and make modifications to.
You can look to the top of the assignment list to find out which assignments will be due soon or are overdue.

Giving assignment: `give` `giveall`

Giving an assignment to a student: `give`

Gives an assignment to the student specified by the index in the contact list.

Format: give INDEX d/DESCRIPTION by/ d/M/yyyy [,HHmm]

Gives the specified assignment to the student in the contact list at the specified INDEX.

Note:

Assignments with similar descriptions with excess whitespace between words are still considered duplicate.
- e.g. Assignment 2 is the same as Assignment 2 but Assignment 2 is not the same as Assignment2
Assignment descriptions are case-insensitive.
- e.g. Assignment 2 is the same as aSsignment 2

Tip:

The date d/M/yyyy can be replaced by friendly commands.
If time [,HHmm] is not specified, time will be set to 11:59 pm by default.
You can give assignments with due dates before today in case you wish to keep a record of old assignments.

Examples:

give 1 d/Lab 1 by/21/8/2021 gives the first student displayed in your contact list an assignment of description Lab1 with a deadline 21 Aug 2021, 11:59pm.
give 2 d/Assignment 2 by/ 2/9/2021,1200 gives the second student displayed in your contact list an assignment of description Assignment 2 with a deadline 22 Sep 2021, 12:00pm.

If the current date is 1 Nov 2021 and it is a Monday
- give 1 d/Tutorial 3 by/mon gives the first student displayed in your contact list an assignment of description Tutorial 3 with a deadline 8 Nov 2021, 11:59pm.
- give 2 d/Report 1 by/tue, 1800 gives the second student in your contact list an assignment of description Report 1 with a deadline 2 Nov 2021, 06:00pm.

Possible Usage:

You can use give when there is an assignment that you want to give to selected students only.

Giving an assignment to all students in a module: `giveall`

Gives an assignment to all students in the specified module .

Format: giveall m/MODULE d/DESCRIPTION by/ d/M/yyyy [,HHmm]

Note:

Assignments with similar descriptions with excess whitespace between words are still considered duplicate.
- e.g. Assignment 2 is the same as Assignment 2 but Assignment 2 is not the same as Assignment2
Assignment descriptions are case-insensitive.
- e.g. Assignment 2 is the same as aSsignment 2.
It is possible to give an assignment using giveall even if some students already have the assignment. Students who have the assignment will not receive a duplicate assignment.
If some students already have the assignment, executing giveall requires the due date to be similar to the pre-existing assignments. The command will not be valid if the due date is different. This is to ensure consistency of the due dates of the same assignment.

Tip:

The date d/M/yyyy can be replaced by friendly commands.
If time [,HHmm] is not specified, time will be set to 11:59 pm by default.
You can give assignments with due dates before today in case you wish to keep a record of old assignments.

Examples:

giveall m/CS2100 d/Assignment 1 by/ 13/07/2021,1900 is an invalid input if some students of module CS2100 has the assignment of description Assignment 1 with a deadline 15 Jul 2021, 07:00pm.
giveall m/CS2100 d/Assignment 2 by/ 15/10/2021 gives all students of module CS2100 an assignment of description Assignment 2 with a deadline 15 Oct 2021, 11:59pm.
giveall m/CS2100 d/Assignment 3 by/ 08/11/2021, 1300 gives all students of module CS2100 an assignment of description Assignment 3 with a deadline 08 Nov 2021, 01:00pm (Shown in the image below).

Possible Usage:

You can use giveall instead of give when there is a module assignment, where all students under the same module is required to submit the same assignment.

Marking an assignment as completed: `done`

Marks a specified assignment of a student as completed.

Format: done INDEX

Marks the assignment at the specified INDEX as completed in the displayed assignment list of a student.

Note:

Remember to display the student’s assignments using show before using the done command!
Shown in the image below:
- Assignments with PENDING status will be colour-coded in orange.
- Assignments with COMPLETED status will be colour-coded in green.

Examples:

done 3 marks the 3rd assignment in the displayed assignment list as completed.

Possible Usage:

You can use done to track the completion status of an assignment among your students.

Removing an assignment of a student: `remove`

Removes the specified assignment from a student.

Format: remove INDEX

Removes the assignment at the specified INDEX in the displayed assignment list of a student.

Examples:

remove 10 removes the 10th assignment in the displayed assignment list of a student.

Note:

Remember to display the student’s assignments using show before using the remove command!

Possible Usage:

You can use remove if you have wrongly added an assignment to a student.

Removing completed assignments from all students: `clean`

Removes all completed assignments from all students in your TA² contact list.

Format: clean

Possible Usage:

You can use clean to reduce clutter in the assignment list.

Clearing all entries: `clear`

Clears all entries from TA² contact list.

Format: clear

Caution:

This command clears the entire contact list and you should only do so if you are sure to proceed with the command.

Tip:

If you have wrongly cleared the contact list, you can use undo immediately to restore to the previous state.

Possible Usage:

You can use clear if you no longer need to keep track of students after they have completed the module.

Undoing a command: `undo`

Undo the latest change made to TA².

Format: undo

Note:

You cannot undo some commands such as help. The undo command will instead undo the previous change preceding the command that cannot be undone.
When you first start TA², there is nothing to undo.
You can execute undo multiple times up until the point where you first launched the application.

Redoing a command: `redo`

Recovers the latest change of the last undo command.

Format: redo

Exiting the program: `exit`

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

TA² 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

TA² data are saved as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/ta2.json. Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

Caution:

If your changes to the data file make its format invalid, TA² will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run.

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 TA² home folder.

Q: How can I get the sample data back?
A: Close your TA² application. Go into the data folder in your home folder for TA², delete the ta2.json file and start TA² again.

Command summary

Action	Command	Format	Examples
Viewing help	help	`help`
Adding a student	add	`add` `n/NAME e/EMAIL m/MODULE [t/TAG]…`	`add n/James Ho m/CS2100 e/E7954753@u.nus.edu t/T25`
Finding students with matching input keywords	find	`find` `[n/NAME]… [m/MODULE]… [t/TAG]…`	`find n/James Jake m/CS2100 t/T13`
Listing all students	list	`list`
Deleting a student	delete	`delete` `INDEX`	`delete 3`
Editing a student	edit	`edit` `INDEX [n/NAME] [m/MODULE] [e/EMAIL] [t/TAG]…`	`edit 2 n/James Lee e/E4853765@u.nus.edu`
Showing a student’s assignments	show	`show` `INDEX`	`show 2`
Giving an assignment to a student	give	`give` `INDEX d/DESCRIPTION by/ d/M/yyyy [,HHmm]`	`give 1 d/Lab1 by/ 21/8/2021,1600`
Giving an assignment to all students in a module	giveall	`giveall` `m/MODULE d/DESCRIPTION by/ d/M/yyyy [,HHmm]`	`giveall m/CS2100 d/Lab1 by/ 21/8/2021`
Marking an assignment of a student	done	`done` `INDEX`	`done 4`
Removing assignment of a student	remove	`remove` `INDEX`	`remove 10`
Removing completed assignments from all students	clean	`clean`
Clearing all entries	clear	`clear`
Undoing a command	undo	`undo`
Redoing a command	redo	`redo`
Exiting the program	exit	`exit`

Glossary

Module Naming Convention

The module format is XX[X]1111[X], where X is any letter, 1 is any number and values in square brackets are optional.

Email format

Emails should be of the format local-part@domain whereby the domain name is made up of domain labels.

The whole EMAIL must have a maximum of 320 characters.
The local part should only contain alphanumeric characters and these special characters + - . _.
The local part must:
- have a maximum of 64 characters.
- not start or end with any special characters.
- not contain 2 consecutive special characters.
The domain name must:
- have a maximum of 255 characters.
- end with a domain label at least 2 characters long.
- have each domain label start and end with alphanumeric characters.
- have each domain label consist of alphanumeric characters, separated only by hyphens, if any.

Friendly commands

Tip:

Friendly commands are all case-insensitive. TODAY and today are equivalent and will be rightfully detected.

today - sets due date to tonight.
tmr - sets due date to tomorrow.
week - sets due date to a week (7 days) from now.
mon - sets due date to the coming Monday.
tue - sets due date to the coming Tuesday.
wed - sets due date to the coming Wednesday.
thu - sets due date to the coming Thursday.
fri - sets due date to the coming Friday.
sat - sets due date to the coming Saturday.
sun - sets due date to the coming Sunday.

Welcome to TA2’s User Guide!

Table of Contents

Quick start

UI Design

Features

Viewing help: help

Adding a student: add

Finding students with matching input keywords: find

Listing all students: list

Deleting a student: delete

Editing a student: edit

Showing a student’s assignments: show

Giving assignment: give giveall

Giving an assignment to a student: give

Giving an assignment to all students in a module: giveall

Marking an assignment as completed: done

Removing an assignment of a student: remove

Removing completed assignments from all students: clean

Clearing all entries: clear

Undoing a command: undo

Redoing a command: redo

Exiting the program: exit

Saving the data

Editing the data file

FAQ

Command summary

Glossary

Module Naming Convention

Email format

Friendly commands

Welcome to TA²’s User Guide!

Viewing help: `help`

Adding a student: `add`

Finding students with matching input keywords: `find`

Listing all students: `list`

Deleting a student: `delete`

Editing a student: `edit`

Showing a student’s assignments: `show`

Giving assignment: `give` `giveall`

Giving an assignment to a student: `give`

Giving an assignment to all students in a module: `giveall`

Marking an assignment as completed: `done`

Removing an assignment of a student: `remove`

Removing completed assignments from all students: `clean`

Clearing all entries: `clear`

Undoing a command: `undo`

Redoing a command: `redo`

Exiting the program: `exit`