Smolbrain Chatbot: User Guide

Smolbrain is a chatbot for tracking of tasks, optimised for use via a Command Line Interface (CLI) while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). With a strong mastery of typing commands, tasks management can be much more efficient than conventional GUI apps.

Screenshot of Smolbrain Chatbot:

Quick start

1. Ensure that Java 11 or above installed in your Computer.
2. Download the latest smolbrain.jar from here.
3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your Smolbrain Chatbot.
4. To run the application, open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in, and use the java -jar smolbrain.jar command to run the application.
5. Type the command in the command box and press Enter or click the SEND button to execute it. e.g. typing list and pressing Enter will list out all the current tasks saved.
   Some example commands you can try:
   • list : Lists all current saved tasks.
   • todo NewTodo : Adds a new task of type Todo with the title NewTodo to the chatbot.
   • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd task shown in the current task list.
   • mark 1 : Marks the 1st task shown in the current task list.
   • bye : Exits the app.
6. Refer to the Features below for details of each command.

⚠️ Important: Running the jar file by double-clicking and opening via Java(TM) Platform SE binary might cause an exception displayed OOPS!!! java.io.IOException: Access is denied. Run the application through the command terminal as shown above instead.

Key Features

Creation of tasks

There are 3 different types of tasks available: Todo, Deadline and Event.

• Todo : A task with only a description.
• Deadline : A task with a description with the associated due date and time.
• Event : A task with a description with the starting and ending date and times.
• Displayed tasks are prefixed by [TYPE][MARKED][PRIORITY_LEVEL].
  • TYPE refers to the task type: T for Todo, D for Deadline, E for Event.
  • MARKED refers to marked state of task: X for marked, 0 for unmarked.
  • PRIORITY_LEVEL refers to the assigned priority level of the task, with possible values 0, 1, 2 and 3.

Marking of tasks

Tasks can be marked when completed, or unmarked when required, allowing to track which tasks are done.

Prioritising tasks

Tasks can be set with a priority level to indicate how urgent they are.

Features List

ℹ️ Notes about the command format:

• Words in [UPPER_CASE] are the parameters to be supplied by the user.
• Task descriptions (indicated as [DESCRIPTION]), can have spaces in between them.
  • Typing todo This is a todo will create a new Todo task with the description This is a todo.
• Date and time must be given in this exact format: DD/MM/YYYY HHmm, otherwise there will be an error displayed.
  • Single digit days or months should have 2 numbers such as 03, 09.
  • Time must not have semicolon characters : and should be in 24-hour format.

Adding a Todo task: todo

Adds a new Todo task to the chatbot.

Format: todo [DESCRIPTION]

• [DESCRIPTION] can have multiple spaces for separating words.
• By default, the task is unmarked and has a priority level of 0.

Examples:

• todo Housework : Creates a new Todo task with the description Housework.
• todo Create a new recipe : Creates a new Todo task with the description Create a new recipe.

Expected Output:

Got it. I've added this task:
[T][ ][0] Housework
Now you have 3 tasks in the list.

Adding a Deadline task: deadline

Adds a new Deadline task to the chatbot with the due date and time.

Format: deadline [DESCRIPTION] /by [DUE_DATETIME]

• [DESCRIPTION] can have multiple spaces for separating words.
• By default, the task is unmarked and has a priority level of 0.
• [DUE_DATETIME] must be given in the exact format DD/MM/YYYY HHmm, as described above in the notes.

Examples:

• deadline Homework assignment /by 20/12/2023 1800 : Creates a new Deadline task with the description Homework assignment, with due date and time set to 20 Dec 2023 at 18:00.
• deadline Cleaning /by 03/08/2023 0900 : Creates a new Deadline task with the description Cleaning, with due date and time set to 03 Aug 2023 at 09:00.

Expected Output:

Got it. I've added this task:
[D][ ][0] Homework assignment (by: Dec 20 2023 18:00)
Now you have 2 tasks in the list.

Adding an Event task: Event

Adds a new Event task to the chatbot with the starting and ending date and times.

Format: event [DESCRIPTION] /from [START_DATETIME] /to [END_DATETIME]

• [DESCRIPTION] can have multiple spaces for separating words.
• By default, the task is unmarked and has a priority level of 0.
• [START_DATETIME] and [END_DATETIME] must be given in the exact format DD/MM/YYYY HHmm, as described above in the notes.

Examples:

• event Swimming /from 04/01/2023 0900 /to 04/01/2023 1100 : Creates a new Event task with the description Swimming, with starting date and time set to 04 Jan 2023 at 09:00, ending date and time set to 04 Jan 2023 at 11:00.
• event Birthday party /from 11/10/2023 1800 /to 11/10/2023 2200 : Creates a new Event task with the description Birthday party, with starting date and time set to 11 Oct 2023 at 18:00, ending date and time set to 11 Oct 2023 at 22:00.

Expected Output:

Got it. I've added this task:
[E][ ][0] Swimming (from: Jan 04 2023 09:00 to: Jan 04 2023 11:00)
Now you have 3 tasks in the list.

Marking a task: mark

Marks the specified task as complete.

Format: mark [INDEX]

• Marks the task at the specified [INDEX]. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed task list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, ...
• Providing a non-positive index or index that is greater than the number of tasks will result in an error displayed.
• Marking tasks will overwrite the current marked state of a task (marked tasks will remain marked)

Examples:

• mark 1 : Marks the task indexed at 1.
• mark -1 : Error message displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid number within the range..
• mark 11 : If there are less than 11 tasks, an error message is displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid number within the range..

Expected Output:

Nice! I've marked this task as done:
[T][X][0] Housework

Unmarking a task: unmark

Unmarks the specified task as incomplete.

Format: unmark [INDEX]

• Unmarks the task at the specified [INDEX]. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed task list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, ...
• Providing a non-positive index or index that is greater than the number of tasks will result in an error displayed.
• Unmarking tasks will overwrite the current marked state of a task (unmarked tasks will remain unmarked)

Examples:

• unmark 3 : Unmarks the task indexed at 3.
• unmark -3 : Error message displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid number within the range..
• unmark 15 : If there are less than 15 tasks, an error message is displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid number within the range..

Expected Output:

OK, I've marked this task as not done yet:
[E][ ][0] Swimming (from: Jan 04 2023 09:00 to: Jan 04 2023 11:00)

Deleting a task: delete

Deletes the specified task.

Format: delete [INDEX]

• Deletes the task at the specified [INDEX]. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed task list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, ...
• Providing a non-positive index or index that is greater than the number of tasks will result in an error displayed.
• Deleting tasks will re-order the indexing of remaining tasks.

Examples:

• delete 2 : Deletes the task indexed at 2.
• delete -6 : Error message displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid number within the range..
• delete 8 : If there are less than 8 tasks, an error message is displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid number within the range..

Expected Output:

Noted. I've removed this task:
[D][ ][0] Homework assignment (by: Dec 20 2023 18:00)
Now you have 2 tasks in the list.

Setting priority level : priority

Sets the priority level for the specified task.

Format: priority [INDEX] [PRIORITY_LEVEL]

• Sets the priority level of the task at the specified [INDEX] with priority level [PRIORITY_LEVEL]. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed task list. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, ...
• Priority level should only have the possible values 0, 1, 2 and 3. Otherwise, an error is displayed.
• Providing a non-positive index or index that is greater than the number of tasks will result in an error displayed.
• Deleting tasks will re-order the indexing of remaining tasks.

⚠️ The task index comes first, before the priority level.

Examples:

• priority 2 0 : Sets the task indexed at 2 to priority level 0.
• priority 5 3 : Sets the task indexed at 5 to priority level 3.
• priority 1 6 : Error message displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid priotity level from 0 to 3..
• priority 5 -3 : Error message displayed saying OOPS!!! Please provide a valid priotity level from 0 to 3..

Expected Output:

OK, I've marked this task with priority level 0:
[E][ ][0] Swimming (from: Jan 04 2023 09:00 to: Jan 04 2023 11:00)

Finding task by keyword: find

Finds tasks whose descriptions contains the keyword.

Format: find [KEYWORD]

• The search is case-sensitive. e.g book will not match Book.
• Only the task description is searched, not the date and times nor the task type.
• Descriptions containing the keyword but not the entire word are still matched e.g. din will match Finding.
• Keyword with spaces are included e.g. ck ba will match Pack bags.

Examples:

• find Book : Returns Book reading and Booking.
• find Birthday Par : Returns Birthday Party, but not birthday Party.
• find ck ba : Returns Pack bags and Crack back.

Expected Output:

Here are the matching tasks in your list:
3. [T][ ][0] Book
4. [T][ ][0] Booking

Listing all tasks: list

Shows all tasks in the chatbot.

Format: list

Expected Output:

Here are the tasks in your list:
1. [T][X][0] Housework
2. [E][ ][0] Swimming (from: Jan 04 2023 09:00 to: Jan 04 2023 11:00)
3. [T][ ][0] Book
4. [T][ ][0] Booking

Exiting the app: bye

Exits the app.

Format: bye

Expected Output:

Bye. Hope to see you again soon!

Saving data

Smolbrain chatbot data are saved in the computer automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need to save manually after each command.

Editing data file

Smolbrain chatbot data is saved in the computer automatically as a TXT file named data.txt in the same directory as your smolbrain.jar file. Tasks are encoded in the format [TYPE][MARKED][PRIORITY_LEVEL][BODY].

• [TYPE] refers to the task type: T for Todo, D for Deadline, E for Event.
• [MARKED] refers to marked state of task: 1 for marked, 0 for unmarked.
• [PRIORITY_LEVEL] refers to the assigned priority level of the task, with possible values 0, 1, 2 and 3.
• [BODY] refers to task description, along with other parameters such as /from and its due date and time
  e.g. D12Complete homework /by 22/10/2023 1800 refers to a Deadline task with description complete Homework, due date and time of 22 Oct 2023 18:00, that is marked and has priority level of 2.

⚠️ Caution: If your changes to the data file does not follow the above encoding and makes its format invalid, Smolbrain chatbot might parse the data wrongly and give corrupted task data.

Deleting data

Deleting the data.txt file in the same directory as your smolbrain.jar file will delete all saved data. When app is reopened again, it will restart as a new app.

Command summary

Action	Format, Example
Add Todo	todo [DESCRIPTION] e.g. todo Create a new recipe
Add Deadline	deadline [DESCRIPTION] /by [DUE_DATETIME] e.g. deadline Homework assignment /by 20/12/2023 1800
Add Event	event [DESCRIPTION] /from [START_DATETIME] /to [END_DATETIME] HHmm e.g. event Birthday party /from 11/10/2023 1800 /to 11/10/2023 2200
Mark	mark [INDEX] e.g. mark 2
Unmark	unmark [INDEX] e.g. unmark 5
Delete	delete [INDEX] e.g. delete 1
Priority	priority [INDEX] [PRIORITY_LEVEL] e.g. priority 7 3
Find	find [KEYWORD] e.g. find book
List	list
Exit	bye

FAQ

Q: Why do I get errors when adding a new deadline or event task?
A: Check if the date and time follows the DD/MM/YYYY HHmm format, specifically having 2 numbers for single numbered date and months, 24-hour time format with no semicolon character : between hours and minutes.

Q: Can I have space separated task descriptions?
A: Yes, the descriptions can have any number of spaces between words, without affecting the command parsing.

Q: Are there any characters that I cannot use for the task description?
A: There are no restrictions on special characters such as % or $. However, phrases that are interpreted as a command format such as /from and /by are not allowed and not parsed as part of the description.