BookVault User Guide

BookVault is a desktop app for managing library users and books, optimized for use via a Command Line Interface (CLI), while retaining the advantages of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). It allows librarians to quickly manage user memberships and maintain an up-to-date book catalog.

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Quick start

1. Ensure you have Java 17 or above installed in your Computer.
   Mac users: Ensure you have the precise JDK version prescribed here.

2. Download the latest .jar file from here.

3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder (main folder)for your BookVault.

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

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_users : Lists all contacts.

   • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 m/ACTIVE : Adds a user named John Doe with the newly added Membership status label.

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

   • clear : Deletes all contacts.

   • add_book b/Wizard of Oz : Adds a book 'Wizard of Oz'.

   • delete_book b/Wizard of Oz : Deletes the book 'Wizard of Oz'

   • exit : Exits the app.

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

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Features

IMPORTANT NOTE: A person is identified by their EMAIL ID. So, while 2 users can have the same name, they need to have a unique Email Id.

Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaning how to access the help page.

Format: help

Adding a person: add

Adds a person to the user list.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS m/MEMBERSHIP_STATUS [t/TAG]…​

Note: A person needs to have a unique email id to avoid duplicates!

Membership Status can only be ACTIVE, EXPIRED or NON-MEMBER

Phone numbers should not include extensions.

Name should only include alphanumeric characters or spaces and should not be blank.

Examples:

• add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 m/ACTIVE
• add n/Betsy Crowe t/friend e/betsycrowe@example.com a/Newgate Prison p/1234567 m/NON-MEMBER t/criminal

Listing users : list_users

Shows a list of all persons in the library address book. Supports additional filters as well, to display specific users.

Format: list_users [e/EMAIL] [n/NAME] [m/MEMBERSHIP_STATUS] [t/TAG]

Examples:

list_users

list_users n/John Doe

list_users b/The Hobbit

Editing a person : edit

Edits an existing person in the user list.

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

• 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.

Examples:

• edit 1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com Edits the phone number and email address of the 1st person to be 91234567 and johndoe@example.com respectively.
• 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.
• Only full words will be matched e.g. Han will not match Hans
• Persons matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e. OR search). e.g. Hans Bo will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang

Examples:

• find John returns john and John Doe
• find alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li
  

Deleting a person : delete

Deletes the specified person from the user list.

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, …​
• Deleting a person also automatically returns all books they have currently borrowed.

Examples:

• list followed by delete 2 deletes the 2nd person in the user list.
• find Betsy followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st person in the results of the find command.

Adding a book : add_book

Adds a book to the catalog.

Format: add_book b/BOOK_NAME [t/TAG]…​

• book name is case-sensitive and unique throughout the library.
• book name should only contain alphanumeric characters or spaces, and it should not be blank.

Example:

• add_book b/Harry Potter t/JKR

Deleting a book : delete_book

Deletes a book from the catalog.

• Only books not currently issued to a user can be deleted from the library.

Format: delete_book b/BOOK_NAME

Example:

• delete_book b/Harry Potter

Listing all books : list_books

Lists all books in the catalog

• All existing books including borrowed books are listed.

Format: list_books

Issuing a book : issue

Issues a book to a user. The issue duration is 2 weeks from starting from current date time.

Format:
issue b/BOOK_NAME e/EMAIL

• Issues the specified book (BOOK_NAME) to the user with the given email (EMAIL).
• The book must exist in the system.
• The user must be a registered person in the system.
• If the book is unavailable, the command will fail.

Examples:

• issue b/Percy Jackson e/alexyeoh@example.com
  • Issues the book Percy Jackson to alexyeoh@example.com.
• issue b/Harry Potter e/johndoe@example.com
  • Issues the book Harry Potter to johndoe@example.com.

Returning a book : return

Marks a borrowed book as returned and calculates overdue fines.

Overdue fines for books is calculated as follows:
For members, S$1 per day after return date.
For non-members, S$2 per day after return date.

Format:
return b/BOOK_NAME on d/<return_date>

• Marks the specified book (BOOK_NAME) as returned.
• The system will calculate any overdue fines.
• If the book is already available, an error message will be shown.
• If the book does not exist, an error message will be shown.

Examples:

• return b/Percy Jackson on d/20/04/2025
  • Marks Percy Jackson as returned and calculates any overdue fines.
• return b/Harry Potter on d/20/04/2025
  • Marks Harry Potter as returned and calculates any overdue fines.

Listing borrowed books : list_borrowed_books

Lists all books borrowed by a specified user.

Format:
list_borrowed_books e/EMAIL

• Lists all books borrowed by the user with the given email (EMAIL).
• If the user does not exist, an error message will be shown.
• If the user is not currently borrowing any books, a message will indicate that.

Examples:

• list_borrowed_books e/alexyeoh@example.com
  • Lists all books borrowed by alexyeoh@example.com.
• list_borrowed_books e/johndoe@example.com
  • Lists all books borrowed by johndoe@example.com.

Displaying overdue books : display_overdue

Displays a list of overdue books and the users who have borrowed them.

Format:
display_overdue

• Lists all books that are overdue and the users who have borrowed them.
• If no books are overdue, a message will indicate that there are no overdue books.

• Note: A book is classified as overdue only if it has been issued for a minimum of 14 days. This approach aligns with standard practices in real-world library systems and maintains consistency with our issuing logic. As such, testing this feature may be limited, as issue dates cannot be manually adjusted.

Examples:

• display_overdue
  • Displays a list of overdue books and the users who have borrowed them.

Extending the borrowing duration : extend

Extends the duration for which a user can borrow a book without paying overdue fees. Postpones the return date by 2 weeks.

Format:
extend b/BOOK_NAME e/EMAIL

• Extends the borrowing duration for the specified book (BOOK_NAME) for the user with the given email (EMAIL).
• The book must exist in the system and must be borrowed by the specified user.
• If the user or the book is not found, or if the book is not currently borrowed, the command will fail.

Examples:

• extend b/Percy Jackson e/alexyeoh@example.com
  • Extends the borrowing duration for Percy Jackson for alexyeoh@example.com.
• extend b/Harry Potter e/johndoe@example.com
  • Extends the borrowing duration for Harry Potter for johndoe@example.com.

Clearing all entries : clear

Clears all entries from the user list.

Format: clear

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

BookVault 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

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

Archiving data files [coming in v2.0]

Details coming soon ...

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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 BookVault home folder.

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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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Command summary