App-Ointment is a desktop app for managing and scheduling patient appointments, 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, App-Ointment can get your contact management tasks done faster than traditional GUI apps.

Quick start

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

  2. Download the latest App-Ointment.jar from here.

  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your App-Ointment App.

  4. Double-click the file to start the app. The GUI, similar to the image shown 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-appt : Lists all the appointments in the appointment schedule.

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

    • delete-appt 3 : Deletes the 3rd appointment from the displayed appointment schedule.

    • clear-appt : Clears all appointments in the appointment schedule

    • exit : Exits the app.

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

Features

:information_source: 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.

  • Parameters 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.

  • Parameters 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.

  • Parameters with prefixes (e.g. n/, p/, t/) can be in any order.
    e.g. if the command format specifies n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER, p/PHONE_NUMBER n/NAME is also acceptable.

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

  • Where a parameter is not expected in the command, and you specified it, it will either be ignored, or included as part of the previous parameter.
    e.g. if you specify n/Doctor Who p/12341234 in add-doctor where the phone parameter is not expected, the app will interpret it as adding a doctor with name Doctor Who p/12341234, which is not allowed.

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


Patient Commands:

Adding a patient: add-patient

Adds a patient to the patient records.

Format: add-patient n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAG]…​

:bulb: Tip: * The patient can have any number of tags (including 0).
:bulb: Tip: * When a tag is too long, an ellipsis will be automatically added to prevent overflow. It is recommended that tags not be too long to avoid this.

  • Emails without Top Level Domains(TLDs) eg. a@b without .com are valid emails, and will be regarded as such in the app.

  • Phone numbers must contain only numbers, and should be at least 3 digits long. It has no maximum length.

  • Tags must be alphanumeric, i.e. no spaces. the same applies for all other commands which use Tags.


Examples:

  • add-patient n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01

Clearing all entries in patient records: clear-patient

Clears all entries from the patient records.

Format: clear-patient

  • Entries in the patient records can only be cleared if there are no existing appointments in the appointment schedule.
  • Otherwise, clear-appt will have to be called first.
  • The above-mentioned requirements are similarly applicable to clear-doctor

Deleting a patient : delete-patient

Deletes the specified patient from the patient records.

Format: delete-patient [--force] INDEX

  • Deletes the patient at the specified INDEX.
  • The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed patient records.
  • The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
  • The specified patient can only be deleted if there are no existing appointments associated with him/her in the appointment schedule. Otherwise, --force must be included before INDEX to force delete the specified patient, along with all associated appointments in the appointment schedule.
  • The above-mentioned requirements are similarly applicable to delete-doctor

Examples:

  • list-patient followed by delete-patient 3 deletes the 3rd patient in the patient records.
  • list-patient followed by delete-patient --force 1 force deletes the 1st patient in the patient records and all associated appointments in the appointment schedule.
  • find-patient David followed by delete-patient 1 deletes the 1st patient in the results of the find-patient command.

Editing a patient : edit-patient

Edits an existing patient in the patient records.

Format: edit-patient INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​

  • Edits the patient at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed patient records. 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 patient will be removed i.e. adding of tags is not cumulative.
  • You can remove all the patient’s tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.
  • Raises an exception if there are conflicts in the new appointment schedule for the patient and the doctor.
  • An edit-patient command that results in the patient having the same details as the original will still result in a success.

Examples:

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

Locating patients by name: find-patient

Find patients whose names contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find-patient KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

  • The search is case-insensitive. e.g. edward will match Edward.
  • The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. Edward Charlotte will match Charlotte Edward.
  • Only the name is searched.
  • Only full words will be matched e.g. Edwar will not match Edward.
  • Patients matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search). e.g. Edward Charlotte will return Edward Hyde and Charlotte Oliveiro.
  • The above-mentioned requirements are similarly applicable to find-doctor

Examples:

  • find-patient John returns john and John Doe
  • find-patient bernice david returns Bernice Yu and David Li
    result for 'find bernice david'

Listing all patients : list-patient

Changes the displayed patient records to show all patients in the patient records.

Format: list-patient


Doctor Commands:

Adding a doctor: add-doctor

Adds a doctor to the doctor records.

Format: add-doctor n/NAME [t/TAG]…​

:bulb: Tip: * The doctor can have any number of tags (including 0).
:bulb: Tip: * When a tag is too long, an ellipsis will be automatically added to prevent overflow. It is recommended that tags not be too long to avoid this.


Examples:

  • add-doctor n/Dr Meredith Grey
  • add-doctor n/Dr Strange t/Dormammu t/IveComeToBargain

Clearing all entries in doctor records: clear-doctor

Clears all entries from the doctor records.

Format: clear-doctor

Similar requirements as clear-patient

Deleting a doctor : delete-doctor

Deletes the specified doctor from the doctor records.

Format: delete-doctor [--force] INDEX

Similar requirements as delete-patient

Examples:

  • list-doctor followed by delete-doctor 3 deletes the 3rd doctor in the doctor records.
  • list-doctor followed by ‘delete-doctor –force 1’ force deletes the 1st doctor in the doctor records, along with all associated appointments in the appointment schedule.
  • find-doctor Drake followed by delete-doctor 1 deletes the 1st doctor in the results of the find-doctor command.

Editing a doctor : edit-doctor

Edits an existing doctor in the doctor records.

Format: edit-doctor INDEX [n/NAME] [t/TAG]…​

  • Edits the doctor at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed doctor records. 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 doctor will be removed i.e. adding of tags is not cumulative.
  • You can remove all the doctor’s tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.
  • Raises an exception if there are conflicts in the new appointment schedule for the patient and the doctor.
  • An edit-doctor command that results in the doctor having the same details as the original will still result in a success.

Examples:

  • edit-doctor 1 n/Dr Amy Edits the 1st doctor’s name to Dr Amy.
  • edit-doctor 2 n/Dr Betsy Crower t/ Edits the name of doctor under the 2nd displayed doctor record to be Betsy Crower and clears all existing tags.

Locating doctors by name: find-doctor

Find doctors in the doctor records whose names contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find-doctor KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

Similar requirements as find-patient

Examples:

  • find-doctor murphy who returns Dr Murphy and Dr Who

Listing all doctors : list-doctor

Changes the displayed doctor records to show all doctors in the doctor records.

Format: list-doctor


Appointment Commands:

Adding an appointment: add-appt

Adds an appointment to the schedule.

Format: add-appt pt/PATIENT_INDEX dr/DOCTOR_INDEX at/TIMESLOT_START [to/TIMESLOT_END] [dur/TIMESLOT_DURATION] [t/TAG]…​

  • The PATIENT_INDEX corresponds to the patient at the index number in the current displayed patient records.

  • The DOCTOR_INDEX corresponds to the doctor at the index number in the current displayed doctor records.

  • The PATIENT_INDEX and DOCTOR_INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

  • The TIMESLOT_START and TIMESLOT_END must be either in an acceptable datetime format or prefixed with keyword NEXT followed by a datetime unit (DAY, MONTH, YEAR) or weekday (MONDAY, TUESDAY …​)

  • Where both fields TIMESLOT_END and TIMESLOT_DURATION are provided, priority is granted to TIMESLOT_END.

  • Raises an exception if there are conflicts in schedule for the patient or the doctor.

:bulb: Tip: * The appointment can have any number of tags (including 0). It is recommended to use the tags to define the purpose of the appointment.
:bulb: Tip: * When a tag is too long, an ellipsis will be automatically added to prevent overflow. It is recommended that tags not be too long to avoid this.


Examples:

  • add-appt pt/1 dr/3 at/2021-01-01 00:00 to/2021-01-01 01:30 t/severe t/brainDamage

  • add-appt pt/2 dr/2 at/2021-01-01 00:00 dur/1H 30M t/exhaustion

  • add-appt pt/3 dr/1 at/NEXT MONDAY dur/1H 30M

Clearing all entries in appointment schedule: clear-appt

Clears all entries from the appointment schedule.

Format: clear-appt

Deleting an appointment : delete-appt

Deletes the specified appointment from the schedule.

Format: delete-appt INDEX

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

Examples:

  • list-appt followed by delete-appt 2 deletes the 2nd appointment in the entire appointment schedule.
  • find-appt n/Alex followed by delete-appt 1 deletes the 1st appointment in the results of the find-appt command.

Editing an appointment : edit-appt

Edits an existing appointment in the appointment schedule.

Format: edit-appt APPOINTMENT_INDEX [pt/PATIENT_INDEX] [dr/DOCTOR_INDEX] [at/TIMESLOT START] [to/TIMESLOT END] [dur/TIMESLOT DURATION] [t/TAG]…​

  • Edits the appointment for the patient specified by the APPOINTMENT_INDEX. The APPOINTMENT_INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed appointment schedule. 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 appointment 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.

  • Raises an exception if there are conflicts in the new appointment with the existing appointments.

  • An edit-appt command that results in the appointment having the same details as the original will still result in a success.

  • The starting time of an appointment can be updated by command edit-appt INDEX at/

  • The duration of an appointment can be updated by command edit-appt INDEX dur/

  • The end time of an appointment can be updated by command edit-appt INDEX to/

Examples:

  • edit-appt 1 pt/1 dr/2 Edits the appointment at index 1 to assign the patient at index 1 and doctor at index 2.

  • edit-appt 2 at/2021-05-08 09:00 dur/1H t/severe t/fever Edits the appointment at index 2 to assign a timeslot at 8 May 2021 9AM for a duration of 1 hour and tag the appointment with severe and fever tags.

Locating appointments by fields : find-appt

Find appointments with details that contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find-appt [pt/PATIENT_NAME] [MORE_KEYWORDS] [dr/DOCTOR_NAME] [MORE_KEYWORDS] [at/TIMESLOT_START] [MORE_KEYWORDS] [t/TAG] [MORE_KEYWORDS]

  • At least one of the optional fields must be provided.

  • The search is case-insensitive. e.g pt/alex will match pt/Alex

  • Only full words will be matched. e.g. pt/freddi will not match pt/freddie

  • Search fields require at least one keyword to be matched in the field description for the search condition of that field to be satisfied. e.g. find-appt pt/Alex Edward will match both appointments with patients Alex Karev and Edward Hyde.

  • Where at/TIMESLOT_START field is specified, the search is conditioned on the satisfaction of either or both the date and time elements. e.g.:
    • find-appt at/05-08-2021 12:00pm will match appointments that satisfy both the date and time elements.
    • find-appt at/12:00pm will match all appointments that occur at time 12:00pm
    • find-appt at/05-08-2021 will match all appointments that occur on date 05-08-2021
  • Where multiple search fields are specified, the search is conditioned on the satisfaction of all of the search fields’ subconditions. e.g. find-appt n/Alex Edward Bo dr/Jekyll will match appointments that satisfy both:
    • Jekyll in the assigned doctor’s name; and
    • Either Alex or Edward in the patient’s name.

Examples:

  • find-appt pt/john alex returns appointments with patients john, John, John Doe, alex, Alex and Alex Anderson.

  • find-appt dr/Grey Who t/BrainSurgery returns appointments with doctors grey or who and are tagged as BrainSurgery.

Listing all appointments : list-appt

Changes the displayed appointment list to show all appointments in the appointment schedule.

Format: list-appt

Overall Commands:

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Viewing help: help

Shows a message with an url to this User Guide webpage.

Format: help

result for 'help'

Entering an Invalid Command:

Entering an invalid command will result in the app throwing an exception, and prompting the user the closest known command, based on the smallest minimum edit distance (minimum amount of additions, deletions, and replacements).

This feature is meant for identifying typographical errors, and as such, no other form of Natural Language Processing (NLP) is used. If the edit distance is too much (above 10 edits), Unknown command will be displayed.

result for ''

Examples:

  • delete-appppt prompts delete-appt
  • list prompts exit
  • too-long-command returns Unknown command

Toggle User Inputs: ↑/↓

Format: ↑/↓

Toggles between previous inputs keyed into the Command Box previously. Returns user to a blank Command Box upon keying ↓ on the most recent input.

:bulb: Tip: * Input commands which are previously input and invalid are still saved and can be accessed by user again. * This feature is meant for easy reversion and revision of past commands.


Saving the data

App-Ointment 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

App-Ointment data are saved as 3 JSON files: [JAR file location]/data/PatientRecords.json [JAR file location]/data/DoctorRecords.json [JAR file location]/data/AppointmentSchedule.json Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing the data files. Do note that adding entries into the patient and doctor records will require a UUID Version 4 generator.

:exclamation: Caution: If your changes to the data files makes its format invalid, App-Ointment will discard the data file that is invalid and start with an empty data file at the next run.


Acceptable DateTime Formats

Must be any of:

Date:

  • DD-MM-YYYY
  • DD-MM-YY
  • YYYY-MM-DD
  • DD/MM/YYYY
  • DD/MM/YY
  • next DAY [MONDAY, TUESDAY, …]
  • next month
  • next year

Time:

  • hh:mm (In 24-Hour format)
  • hh:mmam/pm

Valid Examples:

  • 12/12/21 01:15pm
  • 12-12-21 13:15
  • next monday 13:12
  • next monday
  • next month 14:00
:bulb: Tip: * Inputs with the next keywords without a user-specified time will reflect the current time when the command is entered. For example, add-appt pt/1 dr/1 at/next monday when entered on 07/04/2021 12:00 will result in an appointment added on 12/04/2021 12:00. * next DAY inputs must be spelt correctly and fully. Inputs such asat/next MONDAYXX or at/next MON is restricted.
* Dates that have occurred in the past will be allowed to parse. This is to allow users to keep a stringent record of past appointments, should patients wish to make required changes to them.


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 App-Ointment home folder.

Command summary

Action Format Examples
add-patient add-patient n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAG]…​ add-patient n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01
clear-patient clear-patient  
delete-patient delete-patient INDEX delete-patient 2
edit-patient edit-patient INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [t/TAG]…​ edit-patient 1 e/newEmail@example.com
edit-patient 2 n/Betsy Crower t/
find-patient find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS] find John
find bernice david
list-patient list-patient  
add-doctor add-doctor n/NAME [t/TAG]…​ add-doctor n/Dr John Doe
clear-doctor clear-doctor  
delete-doctor delete-doctor INDEX delete-doctor 2
edit-doctor edit-doctor INDEX [n/NAME] [t/TAG]…​ edit-doctor 1 n/Dr Amy
edit-doctor 2 n/Dr Betsy Crower t/
find-doctor find-doctor KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS] find Amy
find Amy Betsy
list-doctor list-doctor  
add-appt add-appt pt/PATIENT_INDEX dr/DOCTOR_INDEX at/TIMESLOT_START [to/TIMESLOT_END] [dur/TIMESLOT_DURATION] [t/TAG]…​ add-appt pt/1 dr/1 at/2021-01-01 00:00 to/2021-01-01 01:30 t/severe t/brainDamage
add-appt pt/2 dr/2 at/2021-01-01 00:00 dur/1H 30M t/exhaustion
add-appt pt/3 dr/3 at/NEXT MONDAY dur/1H 30M
clear-appt clear-appt  
delete-appt delete-appt INDEX delete-appt 2
edit-appt edit-appt APPOINTMENT_INDEX [pt/PATIENT_INDEX] [dr/DOCTOR_INDEX] [at/TIMESLOT_START] [to/TIMESLOT_END] [dur/TIMESLOT_DURATION] [t/TAG]…​ edit-appt 1 pt/1 dr/1
edit-appt 2 at/2021-05-08 09:00 dur/1H t/severe t/fever
find-appt find [n/PATIENT KEYWORDS] [dr/DOCTOR_KEYWORDS] [d/DATETIME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS_KEYWORDS] [t/TAG KEYWORDS] find n/john alex
find dr/Grey Who t/BrainSurgery
list-appt list-appt  
exit exit  
help help