tp

User Guide

Introduction

Welcome to 🪙NUScents🪙, the tailor-made financial tracker for SOC students at NUS. It is optimized for use via a Command Line Interface (CLI) to offer a clutter-free solution for our users to manage and monitor their financial activities.

Prerequisite

Make sure you have Java 11 or above installed on your system.

Quick Start

1. Download the latest JAR file (tp.jar).
2. Copy the JAR file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your financial tracker.
3. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in.

4. Enter the following command to run the program:

   java -jar tp.jar
   

5. You should see a welcome message as shown below:

      Hello from
       __   __  __   __   ____   _____ _____ __   __ ________   ____
      |  \ |  |  |  |  |/     / /   __|     |  \ |  |__    __|/     /
      |   \|  |  |  |  |\   __\|   /  |   __|   \|  |  |  |   \   __\
      |       |  |  |  | \__   |  |   |   __|       |  |  |    \__   |
      |       |  |__|  |/      |   \__|     |       |  |  |   /      |
      |__|\___|________|______/ \_____|_____|__|\___|  |__|   |_____/
      
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      What can I do for you?
      Hint: To view a list of all possible commands, please enter 'help'.
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   

Features

• Words in UPPER_CASE are the parameters to be supplied by the user. e.g. in allowance /amt AMOUNT, AMOUNT is a parameter that can be used as allowance /amt 1000.
• Items in square brackets are optional. e.g. allowance can be used with or without /note.

Viewing help: help

To view a list of all possible commands, a brief description of their functionality and syntax.

Format: help

Adding an allowance: allowance

To add a new allowance entry to the financial tracker, please adhere to the given format!
Fields in square brackets “[ ]” can be omitted.

Format:
1) allowance /amt AMOUNT /date DATE /desc DESCRIPTION [/note ADDITIONAL_INFORMATION] [/cat CATEGORY]
e.g., allowance /amt 200 /date 30-10-2023 /desc pocket money /note November /cat allowance
2) allowance /amt AMOUNT /date DATE /desc DESCRIPTION
e.g., allowance /amt 200 /date 30-10-2023 /desc pocket money

Adding an expense: expense

To add a new expense entry to the financial tracker, please adhere to the given format! Fields in square brackets “[ ]” can be omitted.

Format:
1) expense /amt AMOUNT /date DATE /desc DESCRIPTION [/note ADDITIONAL_INFORMATION] [/cat CATEGORY]
e.g., expense /amt 20 /date 30-10-2023 /desc lunch /note pasta /cat food
2) expense /amt AMOUNT /date DATE /desc DESCRIPTION e.g., expense /amt 20 /date 30-10-2023 /desc lunch

Deleting an entry: delete

To delete an entry from the financial tracker, which can be either an allowance or an expense.

Format: delete INDEX
e.g., delete 3

Listing all entries: list

To list all entries in the financial tracker.

Format: list

Filtering entries by category: filter

To filter entries in the financial tracker by category. The current supported categories are:

• SALARY
• ALLOWANCE
• INVESTMENTS
• GIFTS
• FOOD
• ENTERTAINMENT
• TRANSPORTATION
• UTILITY
• RENT
• OTHERS

Format: filter CATEGORY
e.g., filter allowance

Viewing an entry: view

To view an entry in the financial tracker, which can be either an allowance or an expense.

Format: view INDEX
e.g., view 3

Exiting the program: exit

To exit the program.

Format: exit

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another computer?

A: There are 2 files used for storage, ./data/nuscents.txt and ./data/hmac. Copy both files over to the target computer.

Q: What happens if I modify the storage file ?

A: The application is programmed to exit immediately if it detects that the storage file has been tampered with. You will either need to revert the storage file back to the last known ‘good state’, or delete both the ./data/nuscents.txt and ./data/hmac files and run the program again. Note that deleting the files will cause a loss of previously stored data.

Command Summary

Action	Format, Examples
Help	help
Add Allowance	allowance /amt AMOUNT /date DATE /desc DESCRIPTION [/note ADDITIONAL_INFORMATION] [/cat CATEGORY] e.g., allowance /amt 200 /date 30-10-2023 /desc pocket money /note November /cat allowance
Add Expense	expense /amt AMOUNT /date DATE /desc DESCRIPTION [/note ADDITIONAL_INFORMATION] [/cat CATEGORY] e.g., expense /amt 20 /date 30-10-2023 /desc lunch /note pasta /cat food
Delete	delete INDEX e.g., delete 3
List	list
Filter	filter CATEGORY
View	view INDEX
Exit	exit