CaféConnect User Guide

Welcome to CaféConnect!

Thank you for choosing CaféConnect to streamline your café management experience. With so many details to track in a busy café environment, managing customers, staff, and inventory becomes a real challenge. CaféConnect is here to keep you organized and focused on what matters most—providing excellent service to your customers.

Use CaféConnect to bring efficiency to your café management!

What is CaféConnect?

CaféConnect is a streamlined desktop application that helps you manage customers, staff, and your drink menu all in one place.

• Easy to use
  • Type simple commands: If you can type fast, CaféConnect can get your café management tasks done faster than traditional apps.
  • Simple design: View all your customer and staff information at a glance.
• Efficient management
  • Core features: Add, delete, edit, and find customer and staff entries quickly.
  • Advanced features: Record purchases, manage reward points, and track customer visits.
• Comprehensive tracking
  • Customer insights: Track customer preferences, visit history, and favorite items.
  • Staff organization: Manage staff details, roles, shifts, and performance ratings.

Why you would enjoy CaféConnect

Because countless other café owners and managers already do!

If you're a café owner who values efficiency, can type quickly, and wants to streamline your operations, CaféConnect is the perfect solution for you!

Managing café operations efficiently is crucial for success—that's why we created CaféConnect. Our application streamlines three core aspects into three beautiful tabs:

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Getting Started with the User Guide

First time using CaféConnect? Don't worry! We've got you covered! This guide will help maximize your usage of CaféConnect.

• To get started, refer to the Understanding Command Syntax section below, which will walk you through the basics of entering commands.
• Need a quick reference of the commands available? Check out the Command Summary at the end of this guide.
• Have a specific question? Browse through the relevant sections for detailed information.

Getting Around This Guide

• Note boxes provide important information that you should take note of.

  Note: This is a Note box.

• Warning boxes highlight potential errors and serve as precautions against incorrect usage.

  Warning: This is a warning box.

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Table of Contents

• Welcome to CaféConnect!
• Why you would enjoy CaféConnect
• Getting Started with the User Guide
• Quick start
• Understanding Command Syntax
  • Basic Command Rules
  • Parameter Order Rules
  • Command Alias
• Features
  • Viewing help: help
  • Adding a customer: customeradd or ca
  • Quickly adding a customer: quickcustomeradd or qca
  • Deleting a customer: customerdelete or cd
  • Editing customer details: customeredit or ce
  • Finding a customer: customerfind or cf
  • Adding a staff: staffadd or sa
  • Quickly adding a staff: quickstaffadd or qsa
  • Deleting a staff: staffdelete or sd
  • Editing staff details: staffedit or se
  • Finding a staff: stafffind or sf
  • Adding a drink: drinkadd or da
  • Deleting a drink: drinkdelete or dd
  • Recording a purchase: purchase or p
  • Quickly recording a purchase: qp shortcut
• FAQ
• Known Issues
• Command Summary
• Glossary
• Acknowledgements

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Quick start

This section has two parts: complete Part 1 once, and repeat Part 2 each time you wish to use CaféConnect.

Part 1: Setting up and downloading CaféConnect

1. Ensure that you have Java 17 or above installed on your computer for the CaféConnect application to run. If not, download the latest version of Java from their website.

2. Download cafeconnect.jar file from our GitHub.

3. Create a new folder and name it any name you want (e.g. CafeConnect).

4. Find the downloaded cafeconnect.jar file and drag it into the folder you created in step 3.
   

Part 2: Using the CaféConnect application

For steps 5 and 6, refer to either Mac Users or Windows Users section that matches your computer system. Continue to Using the terminal after completing steps 5 and 6.

Mac users

5. Use Mac's spotlight search (Command + Space bar) and type Terminal, click on open.

You will see a window like this.

6. Click into the folder created in step 3. Right click on the cafeconnect.jar file and select Get Info.
   

On the new window that pops up, right click on Where and copy the file path.

Windows users

5. Use Windows' search and type Terminal, click on Open.
   

You will see a window like this.

6. Click into the folder created in step 3. Click on the empty space of the bar located at the top and copy the file path.
   

Using the terminal

7. Type cd FILEPATH (replacing FILEPATH with the actual file path copied in step 6) and press Enter.

8. Type java -jar cafeconnect.jar and press Enter to run the CaféConnect application.
   
   

• Windows Terminal:
  

  
  
  

• Mac Terminal:
  

  

Using the CaféConnect application

The CaféConnect welcome screen will appear in a few seconds, displaying the application title and navigation options.

5. From the welcome screen, you have several navigation options:
   • Click on Staff & Customer Management to access staff and customer data directly.
   • Click on Drinks Menu to view and manage the drink catalog directly.

6. 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:

   • help : Opens the help window with the command guide.

   • customeradd cid/C001 n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 rp/150 vc/8 fi/Cappuccino ts/120 : Adds a customer named John Doe to CaféConnect.

   • staffadd sid/S1001 n/Alice Tan p/81234567 e/alice@example.com a/123, Jurong West Ave 6, #08-111 role/Barista shift/9am-5pm hours/40 rating/4.5 : Adds a staff member named Alice Tan to CaféConnect.

   • purchase 1 n/Espresso : Records a purchase of Espresso for the 1st customer in the list.

   • customerdelete 3 : Deletes the 3rd customer shown in the current customer list.

   • qca C0102:Charlie:97285712 : Quickly adds a customer.

   • exit : Exits the app.

7. Refer to the Features below for details of each command. Be sure to check the Understanding Command Syntax section to understand how to properly enter commands in CaféConnect.

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Understanding Command Syntax

Let's start with a simple example to understand how commands work in CaféConnect:

help - This is a basic command that opens the help window.

Breaking this down:

• A command is an instruction you give to CaféConnect to perform a specific action.
• Some commands, like help, are simple and don't need any additional information.
• Other commands require parameters (additional details) to work properly.

Let's look at a more complex example:

customeradd cid/C001 n/John Doe

In this example:

• customeradd is the command.
• cid/C001 and n/John Doe are parameters.
• Each parameter has a prefix (like cid/, n/) that tells CaféConnect what kind of information follows.

Basic Command Rules

• Commands are case-insensitive - HELP, help, and Help all work the same way.

• Parameters shown in UPPER_CASE are placeholders that you need to replace with actual values:

  • Example: cid/CUSTOMER_ID n/NAME have placeholders CUSTOMER_ID and NAME.

  customeradd cid/C0001 n/John Doe - "C0001" replaces CUSTOMER_ID, "John Doe" replaces NAME

• Required parameters (must be included) are shown without square brackets:

  • Example: customeradd cid/CUSTOMER_ID n/NAME p/PHONE means ID, name, and phone are required.

• Optional parameters are shown in square brackets []:

  • Example: [t/TAG] means you can add a tag or leave it out.

  customeradd cid/C0001 n/John Doe t/regular - Here, "regular" is an optional tag that was added

• Some parameters can be repeated (shown with …):

  • Example: [t/TAG]… means you can add multiple tags or none at all.

  customeradd cid/C0001 n/John Doe t/regular t/vip - Here, both "regular" and "vip" are optional tags that were added

• Important note about tags: When adding tags during creation (e.g., customeradd), you can add multiple tags as shown above. However, when editing tags (e.g., customeredit), all existing tags are replaced with the new ones you specify. Adding tags is not cumulative during editing.

• Duplicate prefixes: If you add more than one of each required prefix (e.g., two n/ prefixes), the command will be treated as invalid.

Parameter Order Rules

• For most commands, you can enter parameters in any order:

  • n/John Doe p/98765432 works the same as p/98765432 n/John Doe

• Quick commands (like quickcustomeradd) need parameters in a specific order:

  • Example: quickcustomeradd C001:John Doe:98765432 must be in ID:Name:Phone order

  quickcustomeradd C001:John Doe:98765432 - Here, "C001" is the CUSTOMER_ID, "John Doe" is the NAME, and "98765432" is the PHONE

Command Alias

To make typing easier, CaféConnect provides alias for common commands:

• Customer Management:

  • ca instead of customeradd
  • cd instead of customerdelete
  • cf instead of customerfind

• Staff Management:

  • sa instead of staffadd
  • sd instead of staffdelete
  • sf instead of stafffind

• Drink Management:

  • da instead of drinkadd
  • dd instead of drinkdelete

• Purchase Operations:

  • p instead of purchase
  • qp instead of quickpurchase

Features

Before using any commands, make sure you understand the Understanding Command Syntax rules that apply to all commands in CaféConnect.

• The interface is organized into three tabs: Staff, Customers, and Drinks.
• When using staff-specific commands (like staffadd, staffdelete, etc.), the interface will automatically switch to the Staff tab.
• Similarly, when using customer-specific commands (like customeradd, customerdelete, etc.), the interface will automatically switch to the Customers tab.
• When using drink-specific commands (like drinkadd, drinkdelete, etc.), the interface will automatically switch to the Drinks tab.
• You can also explicitly switch tabs using these commands:
  • stafffind all/true - Switch to Staff tab and view all staff
  • customerfind all/true - Switch to Customers tab and view all customers
  • drinkfind all/true - Switch to Drinks tab and view all drinks

Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

Format: help

Adding a customer: customeradd or ca

Adds a customer to the customer list with required details such as customer ID, name, phone, email, address, reward points, visit count, favourite item, and total spent.

Format: customeradd cid/CUSTOMER_ID n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS rp/REWARD_POINTS vc/VISIT_COUNT fi/FAVOURITE_ITEM ts/TOTAL_SPENT [t/TAG] [r/REMARK]…

• CUSTOMER_ID should start with a 'C' (case-insensitive) followed by digits, e.g., C1001, c1001, and must not be longer than 10 characters. Duplicate customer IDs are not allowed
• Leading zeroes will be trimmed from the STAFF_ID input. e.g. S00045 will be treated as S45
• NAME should only contain alphanumeric characters and spaces, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 50 characters
• PHONE should only contain digits, and it should be between 3 and 20 digits long
• EMAIL must be a valid email address.
• ADDRESS can take any value, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 100 characters
• REWARD_POINTS should only contain digits
• VISIT_COUNT should only contain digits
• FAVOURITE_ITEM can take any value, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 30 characters
• TOTAL_SPENT should be a non-negative number with at most one decimal point and either one or two decimal places, representing the amount in dollars
• REMARK can take any value up to 50 characters, optional field
• TAG can take any alphanumeric value, but should not contain spaces, optional field

Examples:

• customeradd cid/C004 n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/311, Clementi Ave 2, #02-25 rp/150 vc/8 fi/Cappuccino ts/120 t/regular t/vip r/Handsome
• ca cid/C002 n/Betsy Crowe p/1234567 e/betsycrowe@example.com a/Newgate Prison rp/300 vc/15 fi/Mocha ts/250 t/vip t/regular

These are the before and after images of the first example

Quickly adding a customer: quickcustomeradd or qca

A quick way to add customer members with minimal required information.

Format: quickcustomeradd <CUSTOMER_ID>:<NAME>:<PHONE>

• CUSTOMER_ID should start with a 'C' (case-insensitive) followed by digits, e.g., C1001, c1001, and must not be longer than 10 characters. Duplicate customer IDs are not allowed
• NAME should only contain alphanumeric characters and spaces, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 50 characters
• PHONE should only contain digits, and it should be between 3 and 20 digits long
• Other fields will be populated with default values:
  • Email: default@gmail.com
  • Address: empty
  • Reward Points: 0
  • Visit Count: 1
  • Favourite Item: empty
  • Total Spent: 0
  • Remark: "From quickcustomeradd. Edit with customeredit."

Examples:

• quickcustomeradd C0102:Charlie:97285712
• qca C0103:Bob:80192832

These are the before and after images of the first example

Deleting a customer: customerdelete or cd

Deletes the specified customer from CaféConnect.

Format: customerdelete INDEX

• Deletes the customer at the specified INDEX.
• The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed customer list.
• The INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …
• The INDEX must be a valid index number (e.g. 5 is not valid when there is less than five customers in the displayed list).

Examples:

• customerdelete 2 deletes the 2nd customer in the customer list.
• cd 4 when you only have three customers returns an error message.

These are the before and after images of the first example

Editing customer details: customeredit or ce

Edits the details of an existing customer in the customer list.

Format: customeredit INDEX [cid/CUSTOMER_ID] [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [rp/REWARD_POINTS] [vc/VISIT_COUNT] [fi/FAVOURITE_ITEM] [ts/TOTAL_SPENT] [t/TAG] [r/REMARK]...

• Edits the customer at the specified INDEX.
• The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed customer list.
• The INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …
• The INDEX must be a valid index number (e.g., 5 is not valid when there are fewer than five customers in the displayed list).
• At least one of the optional fields must be provided.
• Existing values will be overwritten by the input values.
• When editing tags, all of the current existing tags of the customer will be removed i.e., adding of tags is not cumulative.
• You can remove all the customer's tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.
• Character length restrictions apply as in customeradd command: NAME (max 50 chars), CUSTOMER_ID (max 10 chars), ADDRESS (max 100 chars), PHONE (3-20 chars), FAVOURITE_ITEM (max 30 chars)

Examples:

• customeredit 1 p/99994567 e/newemail@example.com edits the phone number and email address of the 1st customer to be 99994567 and newemail@example.com respectively.
• ce 2 n/Betsy Crower rp/5000 t/ edits the name of the 2nd customer to be Betsy Crower, updates their reward points to 5000, and clears all existing tags.

These are the before and after images of the first example

Finding a customer: customerfind or cf

Finds and lists all customers in the customer list whose names contain any of the specified keywords. The search is case-insensitive, meaning it will match names regardless of letter casing.

Format: customerfind [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [cid/CUSTOMER_ID] [rp/REWARD_POINTS] [vc/VISIT_COUNT] [fi/FAVOURITE_ITEM] [ts/TOTAL_SPENT] [t/TAG]... Format: customerfind all/true (to list all customers)

• NAME should contain at least 3 characters, or the command may not work as expected.
• The search will return all customers who matches the specified search criteria.
• If no customer matches the specified search criteria, the full list of customers will be shown.
• At least one of the optional fields must be provided or all/true.
• The keyword search for [n/NAME] do not need to match the full name exactly; partial matches within the name are included. For example, searching n/john doe will match John Doe, John Tan, or Jane Doe.
• Note that very short search strings (less than 3 characters) may not always work as expected due to search restrictions. For example, ali can find Alice, but al might not match successfully.
• The keywords search for [n/NAME] will return close matches as well. For example, searching for n/all will match ali.
• The keywords search for [n/NAME] is case-insensitive. For example, searching for alice will match Alice, ALICE, or aLiCe.
• The keywords search for [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [cid/CUSTOMER_ID] [rp/REWARD_POINTS] [vc/VISIT_COUNT] [fi/FAVOURITE_ITEM] [ts/TOTAL_SPENT] [t/TAG] MUST match the field exactly and is case-sensitive. For example , searching fi/Cappuccin will return nothing if drink should be fi/Cappucino; searching fi/latte will return nothing if drink should be fi/Latte
• Use customerfind all/true or cf all/true to display the complete list of all customers in CaféConnect.

Examples:

• customerfind n/Alice or cf n/Alice finds and lists all customers whose names contain Alice.

• customerfind n/John Doe or cf n/John Doe finds and lists all customers whose names contain either John or Doe.

• customerfind fi/Latte or cf fi/Latte finds and lists all customers who has favourite item Latte

• customerfind vc/8 or cf vc/8 finds and lists all customers who has Visit Count of 8.

• customerfind all/true or cf all/true lists all customers in CaféConnect.

These are the before and after images of the second example

Adding a staff: staffadd or sa

Adds a staff to the staff list with required details such as staff ID, name, phone, email, address, role, shift, hours worked, and performance rating.

Format: staffadd sid/STAFF_ID n/NAME p/PHONE e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS role/ROLE shift/SHIFT_TIMING hours/HOURS_WORKED rating/PERFORMANCE_RATING [t/TAG] [r/REMARK]...…

• STAFF_ID should start with an 'S' (case-insensitive) followed by digits (e.g., S1001, s1001) and must not exceed 10 characters. Duplicate staff IDs are not allowed.
• Leading zeroes will be trimmed from the STAFF_ID input. e.g. S00045 will be treated as S45
• NAME should only contain alphanumeric characters and spaces, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 50 characters
• PHONE should only contain digits, and it should be between 3 and 20 digits long
• EMAIL must be a valid email address
• ADDRESS can take any value, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 100 characters
• ROLE can take any value, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 50 characters
• SHIFT_TIMING can take any value, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 50 characters
• HOURS_WORKED should only contain digits
• PERFORMANCE_RATING should only contain digits, and it should be between 0 to 5.0 (inclusive) with at most one decimal place
• REMARK can take any value up to 50 characters, optional field
• TAG can take any alphanumeric value, but should not contain spaces, optional field

Examples:

• staffadd sid/S1234 n/Alice Tan p/81234567 e/alice@example.com a/123, Jurong West Ave 6, #08-111 role/Barista shift/9am-5pm hours/40 rating/4.5 t/fullTime t/experienced r/Pretty
• sa sid/S0101 n/Bob Lim p/82019292 e/bob@example.com a/123, Tampines West Ave 7, #09-121 role/Barista shift/5pm-11pm hours/30 rating/4.5 t/fullTime r/Handsome

These are the before and after images of the first example

Quickly adding a staff: quickstaffadd or qsa

A quick way to add staff with minimal required information.

Format: quickstaffadd <STAFF_ID>:<NAME>:<PHONE>

• STAFF_ID should start with an 'S' (case-insensitive) followed by digits (e.g., S1001, s1001) and must not exceed 10 characters. Duplicate staff IDs are not allowed
• NAME should only contain alphanumeric characters and spaces, and it should not be blank and must not be longer than 50 characters
• PHONE should only contain digits, and it should be between 3 and 20 digits long
• Other fields will be populated with default values:
  • Email: default@gmail.com
  • Address: empty
  • Role: empty
  • Shift Timing: empty
  • Hours Worked: 0
  • Performance Rating: 0
  • Remark: "From quickstaffadd. Edit with staffedit."

Examples:

• quickstaffadd S0102:Ali:98291029
• qsa S0103:Bali:89201029

These are the before and after images of the first example

Deleting a staff: staffdelete or sd

Deletes the specified staff from the address book.

Format: staffdelete INDEX

• Deletes the staff at the specified INDEX.
• The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed staff list.
• The INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …
• The INDEX must be a valid index number (e.g. 5 is not valid when there is less than five staff in the displayed list).

Examples:

• staffdelete 2 deletes the 2nd staff in the address book.
• sd 4 when you only have three staff returns an error message.

These are the before and after images of the first example

Editing staff details: staffedit or se

Edits the details of an existing staff in the staff list.

Format: staffedit INDEX [sid/STAFF_ID] [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [role/ROLE] [shift/SHIFT_TIMING] [hours/HOURS_WORKED] [rating/PERFORMANCE_RATING] [t/TAG] [r/REMARK]...

• Edits the staff at the specified INDEX.
• The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed staff list.
• The INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …
• The INDEX must be a valid index number (e.g., 5 is not valid when there are fewer than five staff members in the displayed list).
• At least one of the optional fields must be provided.
• Existing values will be overwritten by the input values.
• When editing tags, all of the current existing tags of the staff will be removed i.e., adding of tags is not cumulative.
• You can remove all the staff's tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.
• Character length restrictions apply as in staffadd command: NAME (max 50 chars), STAFF_ID (max 10 chars), ADDRESS (max 100 chars), PHONE (3-20 chars), ROLE (max 50 chars), SHIFT_TIMING (max 50 chars)

Examples:

• staffedit 1 p/99994567 e/newemail@example.com edits the phone number and email address of the 1st staff to be 99994567 and newemail@example.com respectively.
• se 2 n/Betsy Crower sid/S002 t/ edits the name of the 2nd staff to be Betsy Crower, changes the staff ID to S002, and clears all existing tags.

These are the before and after images of the first example

Finding a staff: stafffind or sf

Finds and lists all staffs in the staff list whose names contain any of the specified keywords. The search is case-insensitive, meaning it will match names regardless of letter casing.

Format: stafffind [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [sid/STAFF_ID] [role/ROLE] [shift/SHIFT_TIMING] [hours/HOURS_WORKED] [rating/PERFORMANCE_RATING] [t/TAG]... Format: stafffind all/true (to list all staff)

• NAME should contain at least 3 characters, or the command may not work as expected.
• The search will return all staffs who matches the specified search criteria.
• If no staff matches the specified search criteria, the full list of staff will be shown.
• At least one of the optional fields must be provided or all/true.
• The keyword search for [n/NAME] do not need to match the full name exactly; partial matches within the name are included. For example, searching n/john doe will match John Doe, John Tan, or Jane Doe.
• Note that very short search strings (less than 3 characters) may not always work as expected due to search restrictions. For example, ali can find Alice, but al might not match successfully.
• The keywords search for [n/NAME] is case-insensitive. For example, searching for alice will match Alice, ALICE, or aLiCe.
• The keywords search for [n/NAME] will return close matches as well. For example, searching for n/all will match ali.
• The keywords search for [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [sid/STAFF_ID] [role/ROLE] [shift/SHIFT_TIMING] [hours/HOURS_WORKED] [rating/PERFORMANCE_RATING] [t/TAG] MUST match the field exactly and is case-sensitive. For example , searching role/Barist will return nothing if role should be role/Barista; searching role/chef will return nothing if role should be role/Chef
• Use stafffind all/true or sf all/true to display the complete list of all staff in CaféConnect.

Examples:

• stafffind n/Alice or sf n/Alice finds and lists all staffs whose names contain Alice.
• stafffind n/John Doe or sf n/John Doe finds and lists all staffs whose names contain either John or Doe.
• stafffind role/Chef or sf role/Chef finds and lists all staffs whose role is Chef.
• stafffind hours/10 or sf hours/10 finds and lists all staffs who have Hours Worked of 10.
• stafffind all/true or sf all/true lists all staffs in CaféConnect.

These are the before and after images of the second example

Adding a drink: drinkadd or da

Adds a new drink to the drink catalog with details such as name, price, and category.

Format: drinkadd n/NAME p/PRICE c/CATEGORY

• NAME is the name of the drink
• PRICE should be a positive number with up to 2 decimal places and must be at least $0.01.
• CATEGORY is the classification of the drink (e.g., Coffee, Tea, etc.)

Examples:

• drinkadd n/Iced Latte p/4.50 c/Coffee adds an Iced Latte under the Coffee category with a price of $4.50
• da n/Chai Tea p/3.80 c/Tea adds a Chai Tea under the Tea category with a price of $3.80

These are the before and after images of the first example

Deleting a drink: drinkdelete or dd

Deletes the specified customer from CaféConnect.

Format: drinkdelete INDEX

• Deletes the customer at the specified INDEX.
• The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed drink list.
• The INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …
• The INDEX must be a valid index number (e.g. 5 is not valid when there is less than five drinks in the displayed list).

Examples:

• drinkdelete 1 deletes the 1st drink in the drink list.
• dd 4 when you only have three drinks returns an error message.

These are the before and after images of the first example

Recording a purchase: purchase or p

Records a purchase for a customer, updating their total spent, visit count, and reward points. Optionally, allows users to redeem reward points to pay for the purchase.

Format: purchase INDEX n/DRINK_NAME [redeem/true]

• Records a purchase for the customer at the specified INDEX.
• The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed customer list.
• The INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …
• The INDEX must be a valid index number (e.g., 5 is not valid when there are fewer than five customers in the displayed list).
• DRINK_NAME must match a drink that exists in the drink catalog.
• For standard purchases (without redemption):
  • For every $1 spent, customers earn 10 reward points. For example, a $4.50 drink earns 45 points.
  • Total spent is updated with the drink price.
• For redemption purchases (with redeem/true):
  • Reward points are deducted at a rate of 10 points = $0.10 (or 100 points = $1). For example, a $4.50 drink costs 450 points.
  • If the customer has insufficient points for redemption, an error message will be displayed.
  • Total spent is not updated as the purchase is made with points.
• Visit count will be incremented by 1 for each purchase, including redemptions.

Examples:

• purchase 1 n/Espresso records a regular purchase of an Espresso for the 1st customer, updating their total spent and adding reward points.
• p 2 n/Cappuccino redeem/true redeems a Cappuccino for the 2nd customer using their reward points.

Standard Purchase

These are the before and after images of a standard purchase using the first example

Redemption Purchase

These are the before and after images of a redemption purchase using the second example

Quickly Recording a purchase: quickpurchase or qp

A quick way to record purchases with minimal required information.

Format: quickpurchase INDEX:DRINK_NAME[:r]

• Records a purchase for the customer at the specified INDEX.
• DRINK_NAME must match a drink that exists in the drink catalog.
• Add :r at the end to indicate this is a redemption purchase using reward points.
• Without :r, it will be processed as a standard purchase.

Examples:

• quickpurchase 1:Espresso records a regular purchase of an Espresso for the 1st customer.
• qp 1:Espresso:r redeems an Espresso for the 1st customer using reward points.

Standard Quick Purchase

These are the before and after images of a standard quick purchase using the first example

Redemption Quick Purchase

These are the before and after images of a redemption quick purchase using the second example

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

CaféConnect 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

CaféConnect data are saved automatically in the following JSON files:

• Address book data: [JAR file location]/data/addressbook.json
• Drink catalog data: [JAR file location]/data/drinkcatalog.json
• User preferences: [JAR file location]/preferences.json

Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing these data files.

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FAQ

Get your questions or doubts about CaféConnect's functionality and details answered here. If you have further questions, you can contact us through our email cafeconnect@gmail.com.

Q1: Where is the data for the application stored?

Ans: CaféConnect's data is saved automatically as JSON files [JAR file location]/data/addressbook.json for customer and staff data, [JAR file location]/data/drinkcatalog.json for drink catalog data, and [JAR file location]/preferences.json for user preferences. You can make a backup of these files if you wish to.

Q2: How do I transfer my data to another computer?

Ans: Install CaféConnect on the other computer. Then copy and replace the following files from your current installation to the new one:

• [JAR file location]/data/addressbook.json (for customer and staff data)
• [JAR file location]/data/drinkcatalog.json (for drink catalog data)
• [JAR file location]/preferences.json (for user preferences)

Q3: Can I edit the data files directly?

Ans: You are strongly encouraged to not edit the JSON data files directly. You can use the commands as mentioned above to manage any data. Should the changes made to the data files cause the format to be invalid, CaféConnect will discard all data and start with an empty data file. It is highly recommended to make a copy of the data files before editing them.

Users should only edit the data files only if they are confident in updating them correctly.

Q4: What is considered valid, when editing the JSON data files directly?

Ans: Data entries are valid as long as it follows the data entry rules enforced by the application, and are achievable using the available commands.

Examples: Having C001 is an invalid customerId field for a customer, if it's already assigned to another customer, as there is no sequence of commands that will lead to duplicate customer IDs.

Having regular is a valid tag field for a customer, as the user can customeradd a customer and add the tag via t/regular.

Q5: How are reward points calculated?

Ans: Currently, customers earn 10 points for every $1 spent on purchases. Points are automatically updated when you record a purchase using the purchase command.

Q6: Will my customer's reward points expire?

Ans: CaféConnect doesn't have a built-in expiration for reward points. Points accumulate indefinitely until used.

Q7: What happens if I try to record a purchase for a drink that's not in the catalog?

Ans: The system will display an error message indicating that the drink was not found in the catalog.

Q8: After I add a new customer or staff, where will they appear in the list?

Ans: New entries will not be inserted in any specific order. They are inserted to the bottom of the list.

Q9: Will adding/deleting customers or staff be reflected immediately in the UI?

Ans: Yes, all changes to customer or staff data are immediately reflected in the UI. The information panels will update to show the current state of your data.

Q10: Are there quicker means to add customers and staff quickly?

Ans: Yes, you can use the quick version of these commands:

• For customers: qca C0102:Charlie:97285712
• For staff: qsa S0102:Ali:98291029

In fact, the corresponding quick version works for purchases made:

• For purchase: qp 1:Latte
• For purchase (redeem): qp 1:Latte:r

Quick commands streamline operations by minimizing keystrokes and simplifying syntax, making them ideal for fast-paced café environments.

Q11: Can I import existing customer data from CSV or Excel files?

Ans: Currently, CaféConnect doesn't support direct importing from spreadsheet files. You'll need to enter customer and staff data manually.

Q12: How do I track staff working hours?

Ans: Use the staffedit command to edit worked hours to a staff member's record.

Q13: Can I edit a customer's visit count manually?

Ans: Yes, the visit count can be edited via the customeredit.

Q14: What do I do when there is a blank screen after my stafffind or customerfind returns no results

Ans: Use the stafffind all/true command to show all staff, or customerfind all/true to show all customers again.

Q15: How do I switch tabs via the command box or CLI?

Ans: Use the stafffind all/true command to switch to the staff tab, or customerfind all/true to switch back to the customer tab.

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Troubleshooting

If you are facing problems while setting up or using CaféConnect, we want to help you. This section covers some of the common problems and ways to solve them.

CaféConnect application setup failed

Check that you have the cafeconnect.jar in the correct folder and copied the correct file path into the terminal. Check that you have Java 17 or above installed on your computer. Follow the correct set of instructions based on your operating system.

Getting errors when using the commands

• Check that you have typed the correct command syntax as explained in the Understanding Command Syntax section.
• Verify you have included all necessary parameters.
• Ensure you have used valid inputs within character limits:
  • NAME must not exceed 50 characters
  • CUSTOMER_ID/STAFF_ID must not exceed 10 characters
  • ADDRESS must not exceed 100 characters
  • PHONE must be between 3 and 20 characters
  • FAVOURITE_ITEM must not exceed 30 characters
  • ROLE and SHIFT_TIMING must not exceed 50 characters

"Unknown command" error appears

• Check for typos in the command name (e.g., customeradd vs customradd)
• Verify you're using the correct command syntax as specified in the Understanding Command Syntax section
• Remember commands are case-insensitive, but parameter prefixes must be exact (e.g., n/ for name)

Interface not showing all information

• Try resizing the application window to view more content
• Use the appropriate tab (Staff, Customers, or Drinks Menu) to view specific information
• If information appears cut off, try scrolling within panels to view additional content

"Insufficient points" message during redemption

• Check the customer's current reward points by looking at their profile details
• Verify the price of the drink and calculate if they have enough points (100 points = $1)
• Consider using a standard purchase instead to let them earn more points

Unable to complete customer/staff search

• For name searches, ensure you're using at least 3 characters for reliable results
• For exact field searches (like fi/ or role/), check for exact spelling and capitalization
• If no results appear, use customerfind all/true or stafffind all/true to reset the view

Data not saving properly

• Check that you have write permissions to the application folder
• Ensure there's sufficient disk space available
• Verify that the data files in the /data folder aren't marked as read-only

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Known issues

1. Multiple Screens: 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. Help Window Visibility: If you minimize the Help Window and then run the help command (or use the Help menu, or the keyboard alias 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.

3. Search Limitations: Very short search strings (less than 3 characters) may not always produce expected results. Use longer search terms for more reliable searching.

4. UI Scaling: On high-DPI displays, some UI elements may appear too small or improperly scaled. Adjusting your system's display scaling settings may help.

5. Long-running Commands: Commands that process large amounts of data (like searching through many entries) may cause the UI to become temporarily unresponsive. This is normal behavior, and the application should become responsive again once the operation completes.

6. Special Characters: Using special characters in names, addresses, or other fields is often not allowed. Even if possible, these may cause display issues or unexpected behavior in some cases. Stick to standard alphanumeric characters when possible.

7. Memory Usage: After extended use with many customer/staff entries, the application may use more memory than expected. Restarting the application periodically can help maintain optimal performance.

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Command Summary

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Glossary

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the following contributions:

We started with a general AB3 user guide template and adapted it to the functional requirements of CaféConnect. We also used MarkBind which is a third party library to generate a dynamic user guide website from Markdown text.

AI tools such as ChatGPT were also used to check for grammatical errors.