MODdy - User Guide

By: AY1920S2-CS2103T-W13-3 Since: Jan 2020 Licence: MIT

1. Introduction
2. About the User Guide
3. Quick Start
4. Features
5. FAQ
6. Command Summary
7. Appendix

1. Introduction

Welcome to MODdy!

Figure 1. Overview of the main features of MODdy

MODdy is a one-stop application for all your academic needs!

It keeps you organized and well-planned throughout your course of study. It is optimized for those who prefer to work with a Command Line Interface (CLI) while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). This user guide aims to give you a clearer understanding on how to use MODdy as well as a summary of its features.

Currently, MODdy targets student from School of Computing (SoC) in the National University of Singapore (NUS). If you are from SoC and is looking for an application to manage all your modules and tasks throughout your degree progression, what are you waiting for? Jump to Quick Start to get started. Hope you enjoy the company of MODdy on your SoC journey!

2. About the User Guide

This user guide aims to provide you with essential information on how to use MODdy.

With the following features of MODdy listed below, we hope to provide you a seamless academic management experience in NUS.

Viewing help
Creating new user profile
Adding module or task
Editing profile, module or task
Showing profile, module, semester, course or focus area
Deleting profile, module, task or grade
Calculating Cumulative Average Point (CAP)
Returning to homepage
Resetting MODdy
Exiting MODdy

You can refer to Section 4, “Features” for details of each feature mentioned above.

Please note the following which may serve as points of interests:

Enter : This grey highlight with white outline indicates a keyboard’s key.

word : This grey highlight indicates commands that you can type into MODdy’s command box.

This symbol indicates information that you may wish to note.

This symbol indicates tips provided by us.

3. Quick Start

This section provides you with steps on how you can install MODdy on your computer and how to get started with MODdy.

Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed in your Computer.
Download the latest MODdy.jar here.
Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your personalised MODdy.
Double-click the file to start the app. The GUI, as shown in Figure 2 below, should appear in a few seconds.

Figure 2. Homepage of MODdy
Type the command in the command box as shown in Figure 2 and press Enter to execute it.
e.g. typing help and pressing Enter will open the help window.
Create your own profile by entering your details in the command box using these parameters: new n/name c/course y/year.semester.
Some other example commands you can try:
- add m/CS1231 y/1.1 : Adds CS1231 into your list of modules under Year 1 Semester 1.
- delete n/name : Deletes your entire profile and its data.
- exit : Closes the GUI and exits MODdy.
Refer to Section 4, “Features” for details of each command.

4. Features

The following 11 sections provides you a deeper understanding on how to use the features you can perform in MODdy and how the features work.

Command Format

Alphabets preceding the / sign are the prefix tags you need to provide.
Words succeeding the / sign are the parameters supplied by you, e.g. in add m/moduleCode, moduleCode is a parameter given by you.
Parameters can be entered in any format and are case-insensitive, unless stated otherwise.
Items in square brackets are optional e.g m/moduleCode [g/grade] can be used as m/CS2103 g/A+ or as m/CS2103.

4.1. Viewing help : `help`

If you are unsure about the commands and want to seek help, this command opens up a pop-up help window where there are examples for basic command formats. For more detailed help, you can visit the link provided in the window, as shown in Figure 3 below. The link directs you to this User Guide where you can get more information on how to use each feature in MODdy.

Format: help

Figure 3. Help window of MODdy

4.2. Creating new user profile : `new`

If you want to get started on using MODdy, you will have to create a new profile. By using this command, it creates a profile for you as shown in the figure below. You will have to provide your details as parameters.

Format: new n/name c/course y/year.semester [f/focusArea]

c/course and f/focusArea is case-insensitive but has to be its full name. If you are unsure of what is allowed, you can refer to the Appendix for the list of courses and focus areas supported by MODdy.
If you have yet to decide on a focus area, you can choose to add it to your profile later using the edit feature mentioned in Section 4.4. Other profile fields can be changed using the edit feature as well.
y/year.semester must be entered as an integer. You should only enter the year and semester that you are currently in. If you are now a Year 2 Semester 1 student, enter y/2.1.
You can only have one profile! If you wish to create a new profile, you can remove it with the delete feature mentioned in Section 4.6.

Example: new n/John c/Computer Science y/2.2 creates a new profile with the name "John", currently majoring in "Computer Science" and is a Year 2 Semester 2 student, as shown in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4. New profile created is displayed in the Profile Panel

new n/John c/Computer Science y/2.2 f/Software Engineering
If you know your focus area, using this command will add focus area "Software Engineering" to your new profile alongside other details.

The maximum Year and Semester you can go up to is Year 8 Semester 2.

4.3. Adding module or task: `add`

If you want to add modules to each of your semesters or add tasks to each of your modules in the current semester, this command is the right one for you!

There are two ways you can use the add command:

4.3.1. Adding a module to MODdy

Format: add m/moduleCode y/year.semester [g/grade]

You can add multiple modules at the same time but only to the same year and semester.
To add multiple modules, just append the m/moduleCode tags right after another, e.g. add m/CS1231 m/IS1103 m/MA1521 y/1.1.

However, you cannot add grades when adding multiple modules.

y/year.semester must be entered as an integer. You should enter the year and semester that you took the module in. If you took the module in Year 2 Semester 1, enter y/2.1.
As you have already specified the current semester you are currently in when creating your profile, MODdy will indicate modules added to prior semesters, current semester and future semesters as "COMPLETED", "IN_PROGRESS" and "PLANNING" respectively.
g/grade is optional. If you have yet to obtain a grade for the module, don’t worry, you can always add it to the module later using the edit feature mentioned in Section 4.4.

Example: add m/CS2103T y/2.2 adds CS2103T to Year 2 Semester 2, as shown in Figure 5 below.

Figure 5. CS2103T is added as a module under Year 2 Semester 2

add m/CS2105 y/2.1 g/A+
You can add CS2105 with its resulting grade, A+, concurrently to the list of modules under Year 2 Semester 1.

You can add up to a maximum of 10 modules per semester in MODdy.

Checking of Prerequisites:
If you have not met the prerequisites of a module, you will receive a warning message as shown in Figure 6 below. You can ignore the message if you have already taken the preclusion of that prerequisite module.

Figure 6. Warning message shown when adding CS2030 to Year 2 Semester 2

4.3.2. Adding a task with a deadline to a module in MODdy

Format: add m/moduleCode t/task [d/deadline]

You can add multiple tasks at once but only to the same module, e.g. add m/CS1231 t/tutorial d/2020-04-20 18:00 t/assignment d/2020-04-25 23:59.

However, for multiple tasks, as long as one task has a deadline, all t/task tags have to be appended with d/deadline tags.
For the tasks with no deadlines, the tag can just be d/, e.g. add m/IS1103 t/project d/2020-05-01 23:59 t/reflection d/.

You can only add a task to the module if the module has been added to your current semester in MODdy previously.
d/deadline must be entered in the format d/YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm, e.g. d/2020-03-31 23:59.
d/deadline is optional if you are only adding one task and your task has no deadline. If your task has a Date due but no Time due, just enter d/YYYY-MM-DD and we will set the Time to default (23:59).
You can delete a completed task using the delete feature mentioned in Section 4.6.

Example: add m/CS2105 t/Assignment d/2020-04-20 23:59 adds a task named "Assignment" with the deadline "20 April 2020 23:59" to the already-existing module CS2105, as shown in Figure 7 below.

Figure 7. CS2105 task is added into and displayed on the Deadline Panel

Dates are highlighted and sorted according to the number of days remaining as shown in Figure 7 above.
Red: 0 - 5 days
Orange: 6 - 10 days
Green: ≥ 11 days

4.4. Editing profile, module or task: `edit`

If you want to edit any of the attributes you have previously added to MODdy, you can do so by using the edit command to edit your profile, module details or deadline tasks. You don’t have to worry about adding any wrong information as you can edit them at any time!

There are three ways you can use the edit command:

4.4.1. Editing your profile

Format: edit [n/name] [c/course] [y/year.semester] [f/focusArea]

Fields in brackets [] are optional, but at least one of these fields should be present to be edited.
If you did not specify your focus area when you created your profile, edit f/focusArea adds the focus area to your profile.
If you’ve moved on to a new semester, edit y/year.semester changes your current semester in your MODdy profile for you.
If you edit just your course, your focus area will revert back to UNDECIDED.

Example: edit n/Brad c/Information Systems edits your profile name to "Brad" and your course to "Information Systems", as shown in Figure 8 below.

Figure 8. Profile Panel is updated with new details

edit n/Brad c/Information Systems f/Electronic Commerce
Alongside your name and course, you can edit your focus area to match your current course using this command.

4.4.2. Editing a module’s details in MODdy

Format: edit m/moduleCode [y/year.semester] [g/grade]

Fields in brackets [] are optional, but at least one of these fields should be present to be edited.
You are allowed to add a grade to a module you are planning to take in future, if you wish to predict your Cumulative Average Point (CAP). You can delete grades anytime using the delete command.

Example: edit m/CS2103T g/A+ edits your grade of the module CS2103T to A+, as shown in Figure 9 below.

Figure 9. Module grade of CS2103T edited

edit m/CS2103T y/2.1 g/A+
You can edit the grade of module CS2103T to A+ and change the semester which the module is taken in to Year 2 Semester 1 concurrently.

If you edit a module in your current semester to another semester, all tasks associated to this module will be removed from the deadline panel. To bring it back, edit the module’s semester back to your current semester.

4.4.3. Editing a task’s description or deadline

Format: edit m/moduleCode t/task [nt/newTask] [d/deadline]

Fields in brackets [] are optional, but at least one of these fields should be present to be edited.
t/task represents the description of the existing task you want to edit.
nt/newTask represents the new description of the existing task.
d/deadline represents the new deadline of the existing task.

Example: edit m/CS2103T t/tP Submission nt/UG and DG Submission edits an existing CS2103T task "tP Submission" to new task name "UG and DG Submission", as shown in Figure 10 below.

Figure 10. Deadline for CS2103T is edited from "tP Submission" to "UG and DG Submission"

edit m/CS2105 t/Assignment d/2020-12-12 12:00
You can use this command to edit the deadline of Assignment, under module CS2105, to 12 December 2020 12:00.

4.5. Showing profile, module, semester, course or focus area: `show`

Not all information can be seen at once. To see this information you have added previously, use the show command to switch your current MODdy display.

There are five ways you can use the show command:

4.5.1. Showing your profile

Format: show n/name

Example: show n/Brad shows the profile overview of user "Brad", as shown in Figure 11 below.

Figure 11. Profile overview of "Brad" is shown in the Overview Panel

All the modules under every semester, their grades, as well as your current CAP will be displayed.

4.5.2. Showing details of a module

Format: show m/moduleCode

Example: show m/CS2103T show all the module details of CS2103T, as shown in Figure 12 below.

Figure 12. Details of the module CS2103T shown in the Main Panel

The module name, prerequisites, modular credits, description and semesters the module is offered in will be displayed.

If you request for MODdy to show multiple information at one time, such as course information on Computer Science and module information on CS1101S, using the command show c/Computer Science m/CS1101S, no objects will be displayed.
MODdy will remind you that you can only display one object at a time.

4.5.3. Showing modules in the specified semester

Format: show y/year.semester

Example: show y/1.1 shows all modules taken in Year 1 Semester 1, as shown in Figure 13 below. If grades for these modules are available, it will be displayed as well.

Figure 13. Modules added to Year 1 Semester 1 are shown in Main Panel

4.5.4. Showing the course’s requirements

Format: show c/course

Example: show c/Computer Science shows the course requirements and focus areas of "Computer Science", as shown in Figure 14 below.

Figure 14. Course requirements and focus areas of Computer Science are shown in the Main Panel

You need to enter the course name in full!

4.5.5. Showing modules under the specified focus area

Format: show f/focusArea

Example: show f/Software Engineering shows the Primaries and Electives of focus area "Software Engineering", as shown in Figure 15 below.

Figure 15. Modules under Software Engineering, which is a focus area of Computer Science, are shown in the Main Panel

You can retrieve the list of focus areas under a course using the show c/course command. This list can also be found in the Appendix of this guide.

4.6. Deleting profile, module, task or grade: `delete`

To remove a profile, module, task or grade from MODdy, use the delete command.

There are four ways you can use the delete command:

4.6.1. Deleting your profile

If you wish to remove your profile, you can do so with the command below. The effect of using this command is also shown in the figure below.

Format: delete n/name

Example: delete n/Brad deletes "Brad" from the profile panel as well as all other data, as shown in Figure 16 below.

Figure 16. Entire profile deleted from MODdy

Your profile, including all modules, grades and deadlines under your name, will be deleted from MODdy

4.6.2. Deleting a module

If you have decided not to take a module you were planning to take, or to drop a module which you are currently taking, you can delete it with the command below. The effect of using this command is shown in the figure below.

Format: delete m/moduleCode

You can also delete multiple modules at the same time. To delete multiple modules, just append the m/moduleCode tags one after another, e.g. delete m/CS1231 m/IS1103 m/MA1521.

Example: delete m/CS2103T deletes CS2103T from Year 2 Semester 2 and also removes all tasks related to CS2103T from the deadline panel, as shown in Figure 17 below.

Figure 17. CS2103T and its tasks are deleted from MODdy

The specified module, including all tasks and deadlines of that module, will be deleted from MODdy.

4.6.3. Deleting a task

Once you have completed a task, you can delete it using the command below. The effect of using this command is shown in the figure below.

Format: delete m/moduleCode t/task

You can delete multiple tasks at the same time but only from the same module. To delete multiple tasks, just append the t/task tags one after another, e.g. delete m/CS1231 t/quiz t/exam.

Example: delete m/CS2103T t/Quiz deletes the task "Quiz" of module CS2103T from the Deadline Panel, as shown in Figure 18 below.

Figure 18. "Quiz" for CS2103T deleted from the Deadline Panel

The specified task and its deadline will be deleted from the specified module.

4.6.4. Deleting a grade

If you have been using MODdy to simulate your grades or you have entered a grade for the wrong module, you can delete the grade using the command below. The effect of using this command is shown in the figure below.

Format: delete m/moduleCode g/

Example: delete m/CS2103T g/ deletes the grade of module CS2103T, as shown in Figure 19 below.

Figure 19. Grade of CS2103T is deleted

Any input after the g/ tag will be ignored.

4.7. Calculating Cumulative Average Point (CAP)

Tired of calculating your CAP on your own? Fret not! MODdy has an in-built CAP calculator feature which automatically updates your CAP when you input your module grades.

Example: If you are currently in Year 2 Semester 2, and all the modules taken in previous semesters are added with their grades, your current CAP will be calculated for you. This example is highlighted in Figure 20 below.

Figure 20. Current CAP is being calculated and reflected in the CAP Panel

If you want to simulate your future CAP, you can add grades into modules in your future semesters.

4.8. Returning to Homepage : `home`

If you want to return to MODdy's Homepage, use this command, as shown in the Figure 21 below.

Format: home

Figure 21. Homepage of MODdy shown in Main Panel

4.9. Resetting MODdy: `clear`

Want a new profile? If you want to clear your profile and data from MODdy, use this command. It clears all entries from MODdy, as shown in the figure below.

Format: clear

Figure 22. All entries from MODdy cleared

4.10. Exiting MODdy: `exit`

Done with managing your modules and tasks for the day? If you want to close the GUI and exit MODdy, use this command.

Format: exit

4.11. Saving your data

If your MODdy application closes unexpectedly or if your computer suddenly shuts down by itself, do not worry!
Your MODdy's data is saved in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need for you to save manually and worry that you will lose any unsaved data.

5. FAQ

This section provides you with some commonly asked questions you might have when using MODdy.
Here are our answers to those questions!

Q1: How do I transfer my data to another Computer?
A1: 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 MODdy folder.

Q2: Can I have two profiles?
A2: Download and install MODdy in two different folders on your computer so that you will have two different data files in separate locations. You can have as many profiles as you want using this method!

Q3: How do I prevent others from seeing my grades when using my computer?
A3: We are currently working on an improved version of MODdy where there will be log in features to encrypt your data. Do keep a look out for future updates!

6. Command Summary

This section provides you with a summary of the basic commands you can perform in MODdy.

Help :
- help
New :
- new n/name c/course y/year.semester [f/focusArea]
  e.g. new n/John c/Computer Science y/2.2
Add :
- add m/moduleCode y/year.semester [g/grade]
  e.g. add m/CS2105 y/2.1 g/A+
- add m/moduleCode t/task [d/deadline]
  e.g. add m/CS2105 t/Assignment d/2020-03-31 23:59
Edit :
- edit [n/name] [c/course] [y/year.semester] [f/focusArea]
  e.g. edit n/Brad c/Computer Science s/Software Engineering
- edit m/moduleCode [y/year.semester] [g/grade]
  e.g. edit m/CS2103 g/A+
- edit m/moduleCode t/task [nt/newTask] [d/deadline]
  e.g. edit m/CS2105 t/Assignment nt/Project
Show :
- show [y/year.semester] [c/course] [f/focusArea] [m/moduleCode]
  e.g. show y/4, show c/information systems, show f/electronic commerce, show m/CS3230
Delete :
- delete n/name
  e.g. delete n/Brad
- delete m/moduleCode [t/task] [g/]
  e.g. delete m/CS2107, delete m/CS2103 t/Project Submission, delete m/CS2105 g/
Home :
- home
Clear :
- clear
Exit :
- exit

7. Appendix

List of courses and focus areas (if applicable) under each course currently supported by MODdy
1. Business Analytics
  1. Financial Analytics
  2. Marketing Analytics
2. Computer Engineering
  1. Communications and Networking
  2. Embedded Computing
  3. Intelligent Systems
  4. Interactive Digital Media
  5. Large-Scale Computing
  6. System-On-A-Chip Design
3. Computer Science
  1. Algorithms and Theory
  2. Artificial Intelligence
  3. Computer Graphics and Games
  4. Computer Security
  5. Database Systems
  6. Multimedia Information Retrieval
  7. Networking and Distributed Systems
  8. Parallel Computing
  9. Programming Languages
  10. Software Engineering
4. Information Security
5. Information Systems
  1. Digital Innovation
  2. Electronic Commerce
  3. Financial Technology