User Guide

KrustyKrab is a lightweight and responsive desktop app for restaurant staff to quickly manage customer information and bookings. It is designed to be simple yet efficient.

At a glance, KrustyKrab allows you to:

  • Easily manage customer information and their details.
  • Efficiently manage and keep track of your customers' bookings and its status or details.
  • Quickly view or filter relevant bookings or customers through the simple user interface.

KrustyKrab is optimized for use via keyboard commands without compromising aesthetics or user-friendliness. If you type fast, you’ll get your booking tasks done much quicker than with any mouse-based system.

IMPORTANT: From here onwards, customers are referred to as persons in this user guide. This is for standardization purposes, as KrustyKrab allows you to save a person's information without them necessarily having a booking.

Table of Contents

  1. Quick Start
  2. Command Overview
  3. Person Commands
  4. Booking Commands
  5. General Commands
  6. FAQ
  7. Known Issues
  8. Command Summary
  9. Glossary

1. Quick start

  1. Ensure you have Java 17 or above installed on your computer.
    Check if Java is already installed in the command terminal by typing: java -version
    If the version shown is Java 17 or higher, you're good to go.
    If not, download and install java 17 from Oracle.
    Mac users: Ensure you have the precise JDK version prescribed here.

  2. Download the latest krustykrab.jar file from here.

  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for KrustyKrab. (You may use any folder you like, but a blank folder is recommended.)

  4. Open a command terminal and navigate into the folder in which you put the jar file using the cd (change directory) command. For example, if you put the jar file in C:\Users\JasonLim\KrustyHomeFolder\, type the following command in the terminal and press Enter:

    cd C:\Users\JasonLim\KrustyHomeFolder\

  5. Type the following command into the command terminal and press Enter to run the application.

    java -jar krustykrab.jar

    A GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
    Ui

  6. Type a command in the command box and press Enter to execute it.
    Example: Typing help and pressing Enter will open the help window.


Some example commands you can try:

  • plist : Lists all persons.
  • padd n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 : Adds a person named John Doe to the person list.
  • badd d/2021-10-01 3:00 PM p/98765432 x/5 : Adds a booking to the person with phone number 98765432.
  • exit : Exits the app.

2. Command Overview

Tips: Refer to the Command Summary for a table containing the full list of commands.

The commands you can use in KrustyKrab are split into 3 different types:

Let's walk you through some basics of the command format.

Each command consists of a command word, and zero or more parameters.

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.

  • Items in square brackets are optional.
    e.g n/NAME [t/TAG] can be used as n/John Doe t/nutsAllergy or as n/John Doe.

  • Parameters can be in any order.
    e.g. if the command specifies n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER, p/PHONE_NUMBER n/NAME is also acceptable.

  • Extraneous parameters for commands that do not take in parameters (such as help, plist, blist, and exit) will be ignored.
    e.g. if the command specifies help 123, it will be interpreted as help.

Caution: If you are using a PDF version of this document, be careful when copying and pasting commands that span multiple lines as space characters surrounding line-breaks may be omitted when copied over to the application.

3. Person Commands

A person has a name, phone number, email, address, membership status and optionally, tags.

Note:

KrustyKrab does not allow more than 1 person to have the same phone number.


3.1. Adding a person: padd

Adds a person to the persons list.

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

Tips:

  • A person's name must contain only alphanumeric characters.
  • A person's default membership status is false unless you set it to true.
  • A person can have any number of tags (including 0).

Examples:

  • padd n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 m/true
  • padd n/Betsy Crowe t/seafoodAllergy e/betsycrowe@example.com a/Cotton Candy Land p/1234567

padd n/Alex Yeoh p/87438807 e/alexyeoh@example.com a/Blk 30 Geylang Street 29, #06-40 t/friends padd_showcase


3.2. Editing a person: pedit

Edits the details of the person identified by the index number in the displayed persons list.
Existing values will be overwritten by the input values.

Format:
pedit INDEX [n/NAME] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [m/IS_MEMBER] [t/TAG]…​

Tips:

  • INDEX refers to the position of the person in the displayed person list (must be a positive integer).

  • At least one field must be provided.

  • You cannot edit the phone number of a person.

  • IS_MEMBER should be true/false, 1/0 or yes/no (Case Insensitive).

  • Editing tags will replace all existing tags with the new set. To clear all tags, use t/ without any value.

Examples:

  • pedit 1 e/johndoe@example.com
  • pedit 3 a/123 Sunset Way m/true t/friend t/vip
  • pedit 2 t/ (clears all tags)

pedit 1 a/123 Sunset Way m/True t/vip pedit_showcase


3.3. Deleting a person : pdelete

Deletes the specified person from persons list.

Format: pdelete INDEX

Tips:

  • INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed persons list.
  • INDEX must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Caution: Deleting a person also deletes their associated bookings!

Examples:

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

pdelete 1 pdelete_showcase


3.4. Finding persons by name: find

Finds all persons whose names contain any of the specified full-word keywords (case-insensitive), and displays them as a list with index numbers.

Format:
find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]...

Tips:

  • Keyword matching is case-insensitive but only matches whole words.
  • A keyword must match a full word in the person’s name (e.g., alex matches "Alex Tan" but not "Alexander").
  • You can enter multiple keywords separated by spaces to match more people.

Examples:

  • find Alice (matches "Alice Tan", but not "Malice")
  • find alex (matches "Alex Tan", not "Alexander")
  • find John returns john and John Doe
  • find alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li

find alex david find_showcase


3.5. Listing all persons : plist

Shows a list of all persons in the persons list.

Format: plist

Tip:

  • The persons list is sorted by the order in which they are added, with index 1 being the earliest added person.

plist plist_showcase

4. Booking Commands

A person can have zero, one or more bookings, but each booking must have exactly one associated person, which is referenced via their phone number.


4.1. Adding a booking: badd

Adds a booking to the bookings list.

Format: badd d/DATE_TIME p/PHONE x/PAX [r/REMARK]

Tips:

  • The phone number must belong to an existing person.
  • Date and time must be in the format: yyyy-MM-dd h:mm a
    (e.g., 2025-04-03 2:30 PM).
  • PAX refers to your dining group size, with a maximum of 500.
  • You can include an optional remark for the booking.

Examples:

  • badd d/2025-04-03 2:30 PM p/98765432 x/5 r/Birthday Celebration
  • badd d/2025-06-10 7:00 PM p/91234567 x/2

Caution: It is possible to create a booking with a date that has already passed, but a warning will be generated to notify the user.

badd d/2021-10-31 3:00 PM p/87438807 x/5 r/Birthday Celebration badd_showcase

4.2. Editing a booking: bedit

Edits the details of the booking identified by the booking ID.
Existing values will be overwritten by the input values.

Format:
bedit b/BOOKING_ID [d/DATETIME] [x/PAX] [r/REMARK]

Tips:

  • BOOKING_ID refers to the ID assigned to the booking (viewable using blist).
  • Date and time must follow the format: yyyy-MM-dd h:mm a
    (e.g., 2025-04-01 9:00 PM).
  • You must provide at least one field to edit.
  • A warning will be shown if you edit the booking to a past date/time.

Note: KrustyKrab allows you to edit existing bookings that are not currently being displayed in the bookings list. For example, if your most recent command was filter p/98765432, you can still edit a booking with BOOKING_ID '2' that belongs to a different phone number, even though it is not currently displayed.

Examples:

  • bedit b/1 d/2025-04-01 9:00 PM x/4 r/Anniversary
  • bedit b/3 r/Changed to private room
  • bedit b/2 d/2025-05-12 12:00 PM

bedit b/5 x/7 r/Dinner bedit_showcase


4.3. Deleting a booking : bdelete

Deletes the specified booking from the bookings list.

Format: bdelete BOOKING_ID

Tips:

  • BOOKING_ID refers to the unique booking ID of the booking.
  • BOOKING_ID must be a positive integer e.g. 1, 2, 3, …​

Note: KrustyKrab allows you to delete bookings that are not currently being displayed in the bookings list. For example, if my most recent command was filter p/98765432, I can still delete a booking with BOOKING_ID 2 that belongs to a different phone number, even though it is not currently displayed.

Examples:

  • bdelete 2 deletes the booking with ID 2.

bdelete 1 bdelete_showcase


4.4. Marking a booking status: mark

Marks a booking with a new status (UPCOMING, COMPLETED, CANCELLED).

Format:
mark b/BOOKING_ID s/STATUS

Tips:

  • The BOOKING_ID is shown when you list bookings.
  • Status must be exactly one of: UPCOMING, COMPLETED, CANCELLED.
  • Status is case-insensitive (e.g., upcoming and Completed are valid).
  • If a booking is marked to a status that is the same as its current status, nothing will change.

Note: KrustyKrab allows you to mark the status of bookings that are not currently being displayed in the bookings list. For example, if my most recent command was filter p/98765432, I can still mark the status of a booking with BOOKING_ID 2 that belongs to a different phone number, even though it is not currently displayed.

Example:

  • mark b/2 s/COMPLETED marks the booking with ID 2 as completed.

mark b/1 s/COMPLETED mark_showcase


4.5. Filtering bookings: filter

Filters and displays bookings based on phone number, date, status, or any combination of those parameters.

Format:
filter [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [d/DATE] [s/STATUS]

Tips:

  • At least one parameter must be provided.
  • Phone number must match an existing person.
  • Date must be in the format: yyyy-MM-dd (e.g., 2023-12-25).
  • Status must be one of: UPCOMING, COMPLETED, or CANCELLED.
  • You can combine different parameters to filter bookings more precisely.
  • Only one of each parameter can be included in the command.

Examples:

  • filter p/98765432 - Shows all bookings made by the person with phone number 98765432
  • filter d/2023-12-25 - Shows all bookings on 25 December 2023
  • filter s/COMPLETED - Shows all bookings marked as completed
  • filter p/98765432 d/2023-12-25 - Shows all bookings made by the person with phone 98765432 on 25 December 2023
  • filter p/98765432 s/UPCOMING - Shows all upcoming bookings for the person with phone 98765432

filter s/UPCOMING filter_showcase


4.6. Listing bookings: blist

Shows all bookings in the bookings list.

Format:

  • blist : Lists only upcoming bookings.
  • blist /all : Lists all bookings (including bookings with status completed/cancelled).

blist blist_showcase


4.7. Summarising bookings of the day: today

Shows all bookings scheduled for today and the persons who made those bookings.

Format: today

  • Displays all bookings for the current date.
  • Also shows a summary count of upcoming, completed and cancelled bookings for today.
  • Shows the list of persons who have bookings today.

Example:

  • today → Lists all of today's bookings and persons who made those bookings.

today today_showcase


4.8. Clearing completed and cancelled bookings: clearbookings

Clears all bookings marked as Completed or Cancelled.

Format: clearbookings

Warning: All Completed or Cancelled bookings will be cleared. This action is irreversible! Ensure you want to delete these bookings before proceeding.

clearbookings clearbookings_showcase

5. General Commands

Listed below are the currently supported general commands.


5.1. Clearing all entries : clearall

Clears all person entries and booking entries.

Warning: All persons and bookings will be cleared. This action is irreversible!

Format: clearall

clearall clearall_showcase


5.2. Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

Format: help

help
help message


5.3. Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit


Saving the data

KrustyKrab 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

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

Caution: If your changes to the data file makes its format invalid, KrustyKrab will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run. Hence, it is recommended to take a backup of the file before editing it.
Furthermore, certain edits can cause the KrustyKrab to behave in unexpected ways (e.g., if a value entered is outside the acceptable range). Therefore, edit the data file only if you are confident that you can update it correctly.


Archiving data files [coming in v2.0]

Details coming soon ...

6. 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 KrustyKrab home folder.

7. 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.

8. Command summary

Action Format, Examples
Add Person padd n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [m/IS_MEMBER] [t/TAG]…​
e.g., padd n/James Ho p/22224444 e/jamesho@example.com a/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 t/friend
Edit Person pedit INDEX [n/NAME] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [m/IS_MEMBER] [t/TAG]…​
e.g.,pedit 3 a/123 Sunset Way m/true t/friend t/vip
Delete Person pdelete INDEX
e.g., pdelete 3
Find Person find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g., find James Jake
List Person plist
Add Booking badd d/DATE_TIME p/PHONE x/PAX [r/REMARK]
e.g., badd d/2025-04-03 2:30 PM p/98765432 x/5 r/Birthday Celebration
Edit Booking bedit b/BOOKING_ID [d/DATETIME] [x/PAX] [r/REMARK]
e.g., bedit b/1 d/2025-04-01 9:00 PM x/4 r/Anniversary
Delete Booking bdelete INDEX
e.g., bdelete 2
Mark Booking mark b/BOOKING_ID s/STATUS
e.g., mark b/2 s/COMPLETED
Filter Bookings filter [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [d/DATE] [s/STATUS]
e.g., filter p/98765432, filter d/2023-12-25, filter s/COMPLETED
List Bookings blist
blist /all
Today's Bookings today
Clear Bookings clearbookings
Clear All clearall
Help help
Exit exit

9. Glossary

  • Java: A popular programming language used to build platform-independent applications. KrustyKrab requires Java 17 or above to run.
  • Command Terminal: A text-based interface where users can type and execute commands directly on their operating system (e.g., Command Prompt on Windows, Terminal on macOS/Linux).
  • Oracle: A software company that maintains the official Java Development Kit (JDK) and provides downloadable versions of Java for developers.
  • JDK (Java Development Kit): A software development environment that provides tools necessary to write, compile, and run Java applications. It includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), compiler, and other development tools.
  • cd: Stands for "change directory". A command used in the terminal to navigate to a specific folder on your computer. For example, cd C:\Users\MyFolder.
  • Command: An instruction typed into the terminal or KrustyKrab’s command box to perform a specific action. For example, padd adds a new person.
  • Parameter: A specific part of a command that provides input values. For example, in padd n/John Doe, n/John Doe is a parameter that specifies the name.
  • JSON (JavaScript Object Notation): A lightweight data format used to store KrustyKrab’s data (e.g., persons and bookings). It is saved automatically in a .json file and can be edited manually if needed.