E-Lister is a comprehensive desktop app, specially designed for insurance agents and other financial professionals to streamline the management of their customers’ contact information. This powerful tool provides users with:

  1. Basic operations (e.g. add, edit, delete, tag, find) to work on contact details via CLI (Command Line Interface) and user-customized tags for labeling.
  2. Other useful operations (e.g. filter, mass operation, freeze) for advanced users to handle data in meaningful ways.
  3. Ability to import and work on existing CSV files.
  4. Additional commands (e.g. undo, shortcut) for a smooth, personalised experience.
  5. An extensive yet friendly user interface.

Quick start

  1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed on your Computer.

  2. Download the latest eLister.jar from here.

  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for E-Lister.

  4. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in, and use the java -jar eLister.jar command to run the application.
    A GUI similar to the picture below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
    Ui

  5. 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:

    • list : Lists all contacts.

    • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 i/10000 : Adds a contact named John Doe to the E-Lister.

    • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd contact shown in the current list.

    • clear : Deletes all contacts.

    • exit : Exits the app.

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

Interface Navigation

Ui Navigation

The user interface consists of five parts: input and output, along with three view boxes for the person list, applying filters, and input log. You can see these sections’ descriptions below:

Section Description
Input box This is where you key in your command for E-Lister.
Output box This box displays E-Lister’s responses to your input.
Person list This is a panel containing the list of people and their information.
Filter box This box displays all currently applying filters on the person list. See more
Input log This is where you can see all your successfully executed commands. See more

Inside the Person list, each person has a Person Card, this is the breakdown of a person card:

Person Card

Features

Some notices before going through this guide:

  • Any notation with a letter followed by a / is referred to as a input field for user to key in.
    e.g. t/TAG, n/NAME, p/PHONE_NUMBER, etc

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are the input values for you to supply.
    e.g. in add n/NAME, NAME is an input value which can be used as add n/John Doe.

  • Words separated by | indicate that you should only pick one of the keywords.
    e.g. all|shown indicates that you may enter either all or shown.

  • Items in square brackets are optional.
    e.g. n/NAME [t/TAG] can be used as n/John Doe t/friend 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/friend, t/friend t/family etc.

  • Input can be in any order.
    e.g. both the commands following n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER, p/PHONE_NUMBER n/NAME are acceptable with the same effect.

  • If a input field is expected only once in the command but you specified it multiple times, only the last occurrence of the input field will be taken.
    e.g. if you specify p/12341234 p/56785678, only p/56785678 will be taken.

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

:bulb: Tip: You are recommended to take a look at the command summary and command use cases(in which cases a command could help you). To access a detailed introduction of a specific command, simply click on the bolded action word located on the left.

Viewing help : help

Shows a help message detailing the various commands available in E-Lister. It also includes a link to this user guide so you do not need to remember this website’s address!

Format: help

help message

Basic Operations

Adding a person: add

:bulb: Tip: If you have an existing CSV dataset, you may choose to import it directly rather than add each contact individually.

Adds a person to E-Lister.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS i/INCOME [t/TAG] [t/MORE_TAGS]…​

:bulb: Tip: A person can have any number of tags (including 0) Income field can only have 5 decimals and smaller than 1 Trillion.

Examples:

  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 i/10000
  • add n/Betsy Crowe t/friend e/betsycrowe@example.com a/Newgate Avenue p/1234567 t/LOWERCLASS i/10000
  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 i/400
  • add n/Betsy Crowe t/friend e/betsycrowe@example.com a/Newgate Avenue p/1234567 i/200 t/LOWERCLASS

add example

Deleting a person : delete

Deletes the specified person from E-Lister.

Format: delete INDEX

  • Deletes the person at the specified INDEX.
  • The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed person list.
  • The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • list followed by delete 2 deletes the 2nd person in E-Lister.
  • find Betsy followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st person in the results of the find command.
  • delete 6 will delete the 6th person in E-Lister (which is Betsy Crowe in this example).delete example

Editing a person : edit

Edits an existing person in the E-Lister.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [i/INCOME] [t/TAG] [t/MORE_TAGS]…​

  • Edits the person at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed person list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
  • At least one of the optional fields 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.
  • Income field can only have 5 decimals and smaller than 1 Trillion.

Examples:

  • edit 1 p/91234567 e/alex_clone@example.com Edits the phone number and email address of the 1st person to be 91234567 and alex_clone@example.com respectively.edit example
  • edit 2 n/Betsy Crower t/ Edits the name of the 2nd person to be Betsy Crower and clears all existing tags.

Locating persons by name: find

Finds persons whose names contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find KEYWORD [MORE_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
  • Only the name is searched.
  • Partial words will also be matched. e.g. Han will match Hans
  • Persons matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search). e.g. Grub Ya will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang

Examples:

  • find John returns john and John Doe
  • find alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li
    result for 'find alex david'
  • find mart On returns Martin Henz, Ong Wai Kit

Listing all persons : list

Shows a list of all persons in the E-Lister.

Format: list

list

Why do we need this command? This is mostly used to refresh the whole list of contacts stored in the app so far after you use filter command (see later).

Clearing all entries : clear

Clears all entries from E-Lister.

Format: clear

Tag Operations

Adding a tag : tag

Adds a tag to any given person stored in E-Lister.

Format: tag INDEX TAG

  • Adds TAG to the person at the specified INDEX.
  • The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed person list.
  • The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • list followed by tag 2 banker adds the tag “banker” to the 2nd person.
  • tag 1 billionaire will add the tag “billionaire” to the 1st person (which is Alex in this example).add tag example

Deleting a tag : delete_tag

Deletes a tag on a person.

Format: delete_tag INDEX TAG

  • Deletes TAG from the person at the specified INDEX.
  • The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed person list.
  • The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
  • The tag must exist.

Examples:

  • list followed by delete_tag 3 teacher deletes the tag “teacher” from the 3rd person(only if there’s a person with index 3 and carrying tag “teacher”).
  • delete_tag 1 t/billionaire will delete the tag “billionaire” from the 1st person (which is Alex in this example).delete_tag example

Advanced Operations

Filter by fields : filter

Search for persons whose fields all match one or more keywords.

  • Note that these keywords are case-sensitive, unlike find.

Format: filter [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [i/INCOME] [t/TAG] [n/MORE_NAMES] ...

  • Displays the data of persons who:
    • For every field you entered one or more keywords for,
      • that person’s field matches at least one of those keywords.

Examples:

  • filter t/bank will list all persons with a tag containing “bank”, such as banker, bankrupt, or riverbanks.
  • filter p/8765 e/hotmail will list all persons with a phone number containing “8765”, and an email address containing “hotmail”.
  • filter e/org e/net will list all persons with email addresses containing “org” or “net”.

Freezing the display : freeze

Freezes the current selection of persons displayed.

  • By default, persons which no longer satisfy the conditions of the most recent find/filter are automatically dropped from the visible list.
    • This can happen e.g. if you filtered for a tag x, but then deleted x from a displayed Person.
    • freeze temporarily prevents persons from being hidden from view in such a scenario.

The visible details within each person will still be updated, if modified.

Format: freeze

  • Commands that reference indices / the list of persons being displayed will be subject to freeze, and will act on the display as it appears to you.
  • The effects of a freeze are withdrawn when a new list, find, or filter command is entered.

Unfreezing the display : unfreeze

Unfreezes the current selection of persons displayed. Any changes to the selection which were previously withheld due to a freeze will now be applied.

Format: unfreeze

Mass operations : mass

Takes in a command typically applied to a single target index, and applies it to all displayed persons.

Format: mass COMMAND [ARGS_WITHOUT_INDEX]

Examples:

  • mass tag Noticed will tag all displayed persons with “Noticed”.
  • mass edit p/7773354 will edit all displayed persons to have the phone “7773354”.
  • mass delete will delete all displayed persons.
    • Contrast with clear, which deletes all persons, whether displayed or not.

Undoing a command : undo

Undo one or more of the most recent commands done.

Format: undo [NUM]

  • Undoes NUM of the most recent commands, or the 1 most recent if NUM is not specified.
    • If specified, NUM must be a positive integer less than 2^31 ≈ 2 billion.
  • Only undoes commands which affect data or the display. For example:
    • edit, filter, freeze, and import can be undone
    • help and export cannot be undone; undo will skip them for the next most recent command.
  • Only undoes commands executed within the current session.
    • If the program is closed and relaunched, commands performed before the relaunch will no longer be undoable, even if they remain visible on the Input Log.

Examples:

  • undo 3 will undo the last 3 commands.

Redoing a command : redo

Redo one or more of the most recent commands undone.

Format: redo [NUM]

  • Redoes NUM of the most recent undone commands, or the 1 most recent if NUM is not specified.
    • If specified, NUM must be a positive integer less than 2^31 ≈ 2 billion.
  • Only redoes commands undone within the current session.
    • If the program is closed and relaunched, commands undone before the relaunch will no longer be redoable, even if they remain visible on the Input Log.

Examples:

  • redo 3 will redo 3 commands.

Creating a shortcut : shortcut

Allows the user to create a shortcut for a command; this shortcut can be used in place of the command.

The shortcut will be saved and can still be used when the user exits E-Lister and re-opens it.

Format: shortcut ORIGINAL_COMMAND SHORTCUT

  • The shortcut cannot be the same as any existing command or shortcut.
  • The shortcut should only consist of alphanumeric characters.

Examples:

  • shortcut list lst will allow the user to input lst in place of list.

Importing and Exporting CSV Files

Import data from CSV : import

Opens a file chooser to import a CSV file containing contact information.

Format: import [combine|reset]

  • If combine is entered, the existing data will be combined with the imported dataset.
  • If reset is entered, the existing data will be removed and replaced with the imported dataset.
  • If neither keyword is entered, the behaviour will be the same as combine.

Note: Your CSV file must have the following headers in this order: Name, Phone, Email, Address, Income, Tags

CSV headers example

Export data to CSV : export

Opens a file chooser which allows you to save the data to a CSV file.

If you wish to export to a new file, you may type its intended name in the File Name box and click Save. This will create a new CSV file with the exported data. Otherwise, you can select an existing CSV file to overwrite.

Format: export [shown|all]

  • If shown is entered, only the current selection of persons will be exported.
  • If all is entered, all persons will be exported, including those who are not displayed due to filters.
  • If neither keyword is entered, the behaviour will be the same as shown.

export example

Additional Info on the User Interface

Filter Box

On the top-right corner of the display, you can see a small box where all the filters that were used on your persons list will be displayed.

applying filters display

Why do we need this? Imagine having to obtain a specific list of contacts with the tags upperClass, healthy, premiumPlanCandidates, healthPlanCandidates, and returningCustomers. It’ll be useful to have all the current filters displayed so that you know which ones you have already applied!

Input Log

Below the Filter Box, an Input Log box displays commands you have previously entered.

history display

Why do we need this? Keeping a record of all commands executed has several advantages.

  • It provides a historical log of all actions taken by you, which can be useful in case of any disputes or discrepancies that may arise in the future.
  • It allows you to keep track of your current progress, which is especially helpful when managing a large number of tasks so you don’t lose track of your current task!
  • You may also use your input history to identify areas for improvement in your approach to handling contact data, allowing you optimize productivity over time!

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

E-Lister data is saved on the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need to save manually.

Editing the data file

E-Lister data is saved as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/elister.json. Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

:exclamation: Caution: If your changes to the data file make its format invalid, E-Lister will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run.

Archiving data files [coming in v2.0]

Details coming soon …

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another Computer?
A: Install the app on the another computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data of your previous E-Lister home folder.

Command use cases

Action use case
Help When you need to access the user guide for assistance on using the application or to learn more about its features.
Add When you want to add a new client or contact with their details, such as name, phone number, email, address, income, and tags.
Delete When you need to delete a client or contact from your list, either because they are no longer relevant or you have entered their information incorrectly.
Edit When you need to update a contact's information, such as their name, phone number, email, address, income, or tags.
Find When you want to find a specific contact or group of contacts using one or more keywords, such as their name, tag, or other attributes.
List When you want to view your entire list of contacts, either for reference or to find a specific contact.
Clear When you want to delete all contacts in your list, such as when starting a new project or when you need to remove all outdated information.
Tag When you want to label a contact with a specific tag, such as "friend", "client", or "prospect", to help categorize and organize your contacts.
Delete Tag When you need to remove a tag from a contact, either because it is no longer relevant or was assigned incorrectly.
Filter When you want to view a specific subset of contacts based on their attributes, such as name, email, address, income, or tags.
Freeze When you are modifying your contact list and you have a filtered applied using the filter command, you can use freeze to prevent the contacts from being removed. For example, if you used filter t/friend and you execute delete_tag 2 friend, the contact with index 2 will no longer show up in your list as it no longer has the tag
friend . However freeze will make it such that it will continue to show up in the list.
Unfreeze When you want the contact list to be updated.
Mass When you want to perform a bulk action, such as assigning a tag or deleting multiple contacts simultaneously.
Undo When you have made a mistake or want to reverse a recent change to your contact list.
Redo When you have undone an action and later decide that you want to reapply the change.
Shortcut When you want to create a keyboard shortcut for a command you use often, making it faster and more convenient to execute.
Import When you have contact information stored in a CSV file and want to import it into the application.
Export When you want to export your contact list to a CSV file for backup, sharing, or use in another application.

Command summary

Action Format, Examples
Help help
Add add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL i/INCOME a/ADDRESS [t/TAG]…​
e.g. add n/James Ho p/22224444 e/jamesho@example.com a/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 t/friend t/colleague i/10000
Delete delete INDEX
e.g. delete 3
Edit edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [i/INCOME] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​
e.g. edit 2 n/James Lee e/jameslee@example.com
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g. find James Jake
List list
Clear clear
Tag tag INDEX TAG
e.g. tag 2 MIDDLE_CLASS, tag 5 teacher
Delete Tag delete_tag INDEX TAG
e.g. delete_tag 2 MIDDLE_CLASS, delete_tag 5 teacher
Filter filter [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [i/INCOME] [t/TAG] [n/MORE_NAMES] ...
e.g. filter e/.*\.org$ n/rin e/.*\.net$
Freeze freeze
Unfreeze unfreeze
Mass mass COMMAND [ARGS_WITHOUT_INDEX]
e.g. mass tag Noticed
Undo undo [NUM]
Redo redo [NUM]
Shortcut shortcut
Import import [combine|reset]
Export export [shown|all]