Welcome to PetPal!

Logo

PetPal is your furry and dependable assistant who reminds you of deadlines and consolidates crucial information like pet names, tags dietary needs all in an aesthetically pleasing GUI! You can now focus on spending quality time with your furry friends without having to worry about things accidentally slipping your mind.

PetPal is optimized for Pet DayCare owners to use via the Command Line Interface (CLI) while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). PetPal can help get your pet’s administrative tasks done without needing to be tech-savvy.

This user guide will help you get started and understand how PetPal can seamlessly streamline your pet-administrative duties.

Table of Contents

Quick start

  1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed on your Computer.
  2. Download the latest PetPal.jar from here.
  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your PetPal.
  4. Double-click the file to start the app. The GUI similar to below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
    Ui

  5. Type the command in the command line 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 pets currently stored.
    • addo/Petricia n/Whiskers p/98746333 e/petricia@petpal.com a/311 Beach Road 2023-03-27 21:09:09 d/Feed cat - 2023-03-27 21:09:09 t/MaineCoon
      Adds a Pet named Whiskers to your PetPal.
    • exit : Exits the app.
  6. Refer to the Features below for details of each command.
  7. Refer to the Command Summary for a quick summary of all commands.

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Getting Familiar With Your User Interface

Ui Breakdown

  1. Pet Cards: Contain all the information of a pet. (Highlighted in red)
  2. Command Line: Type in your commands here. (Highlighted in yellow)
  3. Result Display: The result of your command execution appears here. (Highlighted in blue)
  4. Help Button: Provides the URL of this user guide.

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How to use the User Guide

General formatting conventions

  • Text in blue are hyperlinks that direct you to the relevant section of the page or other websites.
  • Text in bold is used to emphasize important details to look out for or to distinguish headers from the rest of the text.
  • Text in code snippets such as this is used to show inputs and their format.
  • :white_check_mark: Input Shortcut: Shortened forms of commands which can help increase your efficiency in using PetPal
  • :bulb: Note: Information that might be useful to know to enhance your PetPal experience, might not be compulsory to know
  • :heavy_exclamation_mark: Caution: Important information to note which might negatively impact your experience in using PetPal as it might cause fatal errors
  • :information_source: Information

Information that you need to know

Command formatting conventions:

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are the information supplied by you.
    e.g. OWNER_NAME is a parameter in add o/OWNER_NAME, where you can input add o/John Doe.
  • Parameters in [] are optional.
    e.g. DEADLINE is an optional parameter in add o/OWNER_NAME [d/DEADLINE], where you can input add on/John Doe d/Feed dog - 2023-03-27 21:09:09 or just add n/John Doe.
  • Items with ... after them can be used multiple times.
    e.g. [t/TAG...] can be used as t/Pomeranian, t/Pomeranian t/Vegetarian etc.
  • INDEX represents the index of a specific pet in the PetPal list you are currently viewing, which can change based on prior commands executed (e.g. find, remind)
    e.g. You can use the command delete INDEX as delete 2.
  • Parameters can be in any order.
    e.g. You can input either add o/OWNER_NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER or ` add p/PHONE_NUMBER o/OWNER_NAME`.
  • Only the last occurrence of a parameter that is expected once will be taken if you specify it more than once.
    e.g. Given p/12341234 p/56785678, only p/56785678 will be taken.
  • Extraneous parameters for commands that do not take in parameters (such as help, list, exit, clear and undo) will be ignored.
    e.g. if the command specifies help 123, it will be interpreted as help.

Features

General

Viewing help : help

Helpful feature when you forget the commands!

Format: help, h or Press F1

help

Listing your pets: list

Will help you get back to the original list of pets stored in PetPal after the find and remind functions.

Format: list or l

list

Adding

Adding a pet’s information: add

If you have new pet client(s) and need to add your new furry friends to PetPal, you can make use of the add command.

Format: add n/PET_NAME o/OWNER_NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS ts/TIME_STAMP [d/DEADLINE] [t/TAG...]

  • :information_source: Information

Note:

  1. The field n/PET_NAME is case-sensitive. That is n/Doggo and n/doggo will be treated as 2 different pets.
  2. There are certain constraints which might differ for each parameter, please refer to Figure 1 below for details on each constraint.
  3. Pets with the PET_NAME cannot be created.
  4. There can be multiple tags associated with each pet, simply repeat the tag prefix. e.g. t/Dog t/BichonFrise

Figure 1 provides a summary of the parameters with their descriptions, prefixes and constraints.

Parameter Description Prefix Constraints Required?
OWNER_NAME The name of the owner o/ Names should only contain alphanumeric characters and spaces COMPULSORY
PET_NAME The name of the pet n/ Names should only contain alphanumeric characters and spaces COMPULSORY
PHONE_NUMBER The owner’s phone number p/ Phone numbers should only contain numbers, and it should be at least 3 digits long COMPULSORY
EMAIL The owner’s email e/ Emails should be of the format local-part@domain and adhere to the following constraints:
1. The local-part should only contain alphanumeric characters and these special characters, excluding the parentheses, ( + SPECIAL_CHARACTERS + ). The local-part may not start or end with any special “characters.”
2. This is followed by a ‘@’ and then a domain name. The domain name is made up of domain labels separated by periods.The domain name must:
- 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		 COMPULSORY
ADDRESS The owner’s address a/   COMPULSORY
TIMESTAMP The date and time when the pet starts boarding ts/ Timestamps should be in theYYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format. eg. 2023-03-27 21:09:09 and in the future COMPULSORY
DEADLINE A deadline attributed with the pet d/ Timestamps given in the deadline should be in theYYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format. eg. 2023-03-27 21:09:09 and in the future OPTIONAL
TAG A label that you can attach to a pet t/ Tags should be alphanumeric, andcannot include spaces OPTIONAL

Figure 1: Parameters with their descriptions, prefixes and constraints.

  • :heavy_exclamation_mark: Caution: The format of the timestamp should strictly follow the convention YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS eg. 2023-03-27 21:09:09 otherwise, you will encounter errors when adding a new pet.

create

Example given: Example: add o/Alice n/Doggo p/98765432 e/example@gmail.com a/311, Clementi Ave 2, #02-25 ts/2023-03-27 21:09:09 d/Feed dog - 2023-03-27 21:09:09 t/Dog t/Chihuahua

Other examples:

  • add o/Petricia n/Whiskers p/98746333 e/petricia@petpal.com a/311 Beach Road 2023-03-27 21:09:09 d/Feed cat - 2023-03-27 21:09:09 t/MaineCoon ts/2023-03-27 21:09:09 t/Cat
  • add o/Robert n/Fluffy p/98746333 e/rob@bmail.com a/622 Rose Road ts/2023-03-27 21:09:09 d/Feed rabbit - 2023-03-27 21:09:09 t/Vegetarian t/Rabbit

Filtering out reminders that are due soon: remind

Get a filtered list of things you should do soon!

Constraints

  • The filtering of the list only checks if the deadline for a pet is within 3 days of the current date.
  • It does not sort out the list based on the deadline of the pet. (Future implementation)
  • However, currently those reminders that are due within the day are highlighted in bright orange on the GUI as seen in the image given below.

Format: remind

remind

:bulb: Note: The pets highlighted in bright orange are reminders that are due within a day!

Retrieving

Finding your pet by name: find

Find your pets by their names.

Constraints

  • The search is case-insensitive. e.g. woofers will match Woofers
  • Only the pet name is searched. e.g. find Alex will not return owner names, addresses or emails with Alex
  • Partial words will not be matched. e.g. Jack will not match Jackson
  • Order of the name given does not matter. e.g. Milo Charlie will match Charlie and Milo

Format: find n/PET_NAME

find

Example given: find Milo Charlie

Other examples:

  • find Max returns max and Max Leo
  • find Super Wolf returns Super Wolf, Super Dog, Wolf Hunter

:bulb: Note:
The find command returns a new list. Any commands performed after find is based on the new list. You can use the list command to return to the original list.

:white_check_mark: Input Shortcut: Format: f n/PET_NAME

Updating

Updating your pet information: edit

A pet owner changed their contact information? or did you find out new information about your pet client?

You can edit these changes with the edit command. This command can be used to edit: phone numbers, addresses, emails, and tags.

If you accidentally invoked this command with the wrong parameters, you can use the edit command to re-edit the wrong fields or the undo command to revert the wrong changes.

Constraints

  • Edits the pet with the provided index.
  • INDEX is the index of the pet in the currently displayed list.
  • You must provide at least one of the optional fields.
  • Allows you to update a pet to have the same owner name but a different phone number or, the same number but a different owner name as a current pet in the PetPal.
  • Pet profiles are auto-saved in PetPal and are reflected in the PetPal list.
  • Cost is constantly being updated in PetPal but the latest information may not be reflected to you. To get the latest information, either click on the pet profile or run a command (e.g. list or l).

Format: edit INDEX [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [a/ADDRESS] [e/EMAIL] [t/TAG...]

update

Example given: edit 6 t/GoldenRetriever t/Dog a/Blk 235 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, #11-312 e/alextoh@gmail.com

:bulb: Note:

If you wish to add tags to the pet, take note to include all previous tags in the edit, or they will be overridden.

Only the parameters provided will be changed.

Other examples:

  • edit 2 p/91234567 a/21 Beach Road Updates the second pet entry’s phone number to91234567 and address to 21 Beach Rd
  • edit 3 t/Dog. Updates the third pet entry’s tag to Dog, take note that if the third entry has an existing tag, the edit will override the existing tag

Amount indication

Pet Card information indicates the amount of money your customers owe you for taking good care of their pets!

Cost is calculated based on the initial timestamp input by the user. The cost is updated based on user interaction, clicking the pet card or reopening PetPal!

Changing the cost : changecost

Do some pets cost more to board in your daycare than others? You can use the changecost command to change the parameters for cost calculation for each pet.

Cost is incremented in real-time and is calculated based on FLAT_RATE + (TIMESTAMP - CURR_TIME * RATE).

:bulb: Note:

The cost will only update in your PetPal list when you click on the PetPal entry.

The update only applies to the selected PetPal entry.

Format: changecost INDEX RATE FLAT_RATE

update

Example given: changecost 1 0.1 0.5

  • :white_check_mark: Input Shortcut: You can also use the shortcut cc to replace changecost

Additional example:

  • cc 2 1.0 1.5

Marking a deadline as done: mark

Are you done with a pet’s deadline? You can use the mark command to mark the deadline as done.

Pets that are already marked will not be highlighted.

Format: mark INDEX

Example given: mark 1

:bulb: Note:

You should always mark the pet’s deadline when you finished it. Otherwise, it will be highlighted as undone.

Pet deadline status will be automatically saved in the form of a status field in the petpal.json file. Unmarked means have not finished yet and Marked means already finished.

Deletion

Deleting a pet: delete

Deletes the specified pet from your PetPal.

You can use this command when:

  1. You drop a pet.

Constraints

  • INDEX is the index of the pet in the currently displayed list.
  • Deletes the pet with the specified index in your PetPal.

Format: delete INDEX

delete

Example:

  • delete 2 deletes the second pet in the currently displayed pet list in the PetPal.

Archiving a pet: archive

Sometimes a client may become inactive or stop using your services. To keep a record of the pet whilst not cluttering your active PetPal list, you can use the archive command to move these records to another save file.

Archives the specified pet into the archive.json file in the data folder.

Note that:

  • The specified pet will be removed from your PetPal list.
  • The index is based on the currently displayed PetPal list, which might change depending on prior commands used (e.g. find)

Format: archive INDEX

archive

Example:

  • archive 2 archives the second pet in the currently displayed list in PetPal

Clearing PetPal list: clear

Clears all entries from PetPal.json.

Format: clear

clear

:heavy_exclamation_mark: Important If you run this command by accident, you can undo the command to restore the previous state of PetPal.

Undo

Undoing a previous command: undo

Undo the last command executed, only works for supported commands. You can use this if you make a mistake while using PetPal.

Constraints

  • The command intended to be undone should be an undoable command.
  • Supported commands: add, delete, edit, clear, undo
  • NOT SUPPORTED commands: exit, find, help, list, remind, changecost, archive

Format: undo

undo

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program. Data is automatically saved.

Format: exit or e

Saving the data

Your PetPal and archive data are both automatically saved after executing any command that changes the data. This means hassle-free data saving.

Editing the data file

PetPal data are saved as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/PetPal.json. If you are an advanced user, you are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file. Archive data is also in a JSON format and can be found in [JAR file location]/data/archive.json.

:exclamation: Caution: If your changes to either data file make its format invalid, PetPal will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run, which is IRREVERSIBLE.

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FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another computer?
A: Follow these steps to transfer your data to another computer:

  1. Find the save folder on the current computer. The save files can be found in the data folder created by the app, it should include both PetPal.json and archive.json
  2. Transfer the save file to your new computer.
  3. Download the latest release of PetPal from here on your new computer.
  4. Launch PetPal on your new computer and exit.
  5. You should see a new data folder containing a new PetPal.json with a sample. Replace this file with the save file copied over from your old computer.
  6. Launch PetPal again. Your data should be there!
  • :bulb: Note: If you wish to transfer only 1 of the files over, repeat the same steps, and replace the file you want to move, instead of the entire data folder



Q: How do I view the entire pet list after a find command?

A: Run list or l to view the entire unfiltered list.



Q: Why there are some pets highlighted even though the deadline is already passed?

A: If you have already done the task, run the mark function to mark it as done and remove the highlight.



Q: PetPal says the index is invalid even though the pet exists in the PetPal list

A: The index of each pet is based on your currently viewable pet list index, so if your currently viewable pet list is empty, the index will be invalid
Run list or l to view all the pets in the list before executing the command again.



Q: Why is my pet cost not updating?

A: After clicking on a PetCard once, the cost will be updated for the first time. To update the cost again, please click on other PetCards.



If you have additional questions that are not present in the User Guide, feel free to contact us via our email contact@petpal.com or raise an issue in our GitHub

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Glossary

Term Definition
Alphanumeric Refers to characters that are the combined set of the 26 alphabetic characters, a to Z, both lowercase and uppercase and the 10 Arabic numerals, 0 to 9.
Command Line Interface A command-line interface (CLI) is a text-based user interface (UI) used to run programs, manage computer files and interact with the computer.
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss Date format wherebyYYYY refers to the year using 4 digits, MM refers to the months in 2 digits, DD refers to the days in 2 digits, hh refers to the 2 digit hours, mm refers to the 2 digit minutes, ‘ss’ refers to the 2 digit seconds. They are each separated by a hyphen: - character for date and : for time.
Graphical User Interface A graphical user interface (GUI) is an interface through which a user interacts with electronic devices such as computers and smartphones through the use of icons, menus and other visual indicators or representations (graphics).
Index The number that corresponds to the position of the pet in the list. The index must be a numeral above 0.
Java The programming language used for this application. Java is a general-purpose computer programming language designed to produce programs that will run on any computer system that has Java installed.
JAR JAR stands for Java ARchive. PetPal uses JAR to deliver its distribution. JAR is a file format based on the popular ZIP file format and is used for aggregating many files into one.
JSON JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. JSON is the format used to store your PetPal data. JSON is a lightweight format for storing and transporting data.

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Command summary

Action Format, Examples Shortcut
Help help h or PRESS F1
List list l
Add add o/OWNER_NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS ts/TIME_STAMP [d/DEADLINE] [t/TAG...]
e.g Example: add o/Alice n/Doggo p/98765432 e/example@gmail.com a/311, Clementi Ave 2, #02-25 ts/2023-03-27 21:09:09 d/Feed dog - 2023-03-27 21:09:09 t/Dog t/Chihuahua 		 
Edit edit p/PHONE_NUMBER [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG...]
e.g Example: edit 6 t/Golden Retriever t/Dog a/Blk 235 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, #11-312 e/alextoh@gmail.com 		 
Delete delete INDEX
e.g. delete 2 		 
Remind remind  
Mark mark INDEX
e.g mark 1 		 
Find find n/PET_NAME
e.g find Milo 		f
Undo undo  
Change Cost changecost INDEX RATE FLAT_COST
e.g. changecost 1 0.1 0.5 		cc
Archive archive INDEX
e.g. archive 1 		 
Clear clear  
Exit exit  

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Acknowledgements

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