ConText is a desktop app that allows for managing contacts quickly via text commands. It is optimized for use via an in-app Command Line Interface (CLI), while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI).

It has useful features relevant to NUS SoC students:

  • Tagging contacts by category: You can tag your professors and classmates with custom tags such as “prof”, “friend”, “CS2103 course” etc., then filter by tag to view all contacts with a certain tag.
  • Storing different ways to reach people: By adding alternate contact details, you could have Telegram, Discord, mobile phone, house phone etc. all in the same contact.
  • Works like a usual CLI: You can use the up/down arrow keys to switch between previously-entered commands, making entering and repeating commands (e.g. adding many new contacts) easier.

If you can type fast, prefer typing, and are reasonably comfortable with CLI inputs, ConText can let you manage contacts faster than traditional GUI apps.

Quick start

  1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed.

  2. Download the latest context.jar here.

  3. Place the JAR file in the folder you want to use as the app’s home folder.

  4. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the JAR file in, and use the java -jar context.jar command to run the application.
    A window should open with a GUI similar to the one below. Note how the app starts off with some sample data.
    Ui

  5. The text box at the top of the window should be automatically selected. This is where you can type your text commands. Press Enter to execute them.
    The feedback from each command’s execution will be displayed below the text box, with the currently displayed list of contacts below that.

  6. Refer to the Features section below to find out about the various commands.

:bulb: Tip: You could test out some commands on the sample data. Once you are familiarised, feel free to use the clear command to delete all the sample data, and start adding your own contacts!

Features

At a glance: the information that can be stored with each contact, and how it will appear in the application, is labelled below.

ContactCard

:information_source: About the command format:

  • Some commands take in parameters. e.g. in add n/NAME, the add command takes in an n/ parameter.

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are placeholders for values to be specified.
    e.g. in edit INDEX, you should specify an INDEX such as edit 1.
    e.g. in add n/NAME, you should specify a NAME such as add n/John Doe.

  • Parameters in square brackets are optional.
    e.g in n/NAME [o/NOTE], you could specify n/John Doe o/Good at SE., or just n/John Doe.

  • Parameters with …​ after them can be specified multiple times.
    e.g. in [t/TAG]…​, which is optional but can also be specified multiple times, you could specify   (none specified), t/NUS, t/NUS t/CS2103 course etc.

  • Parameters can be specified in any order.
    e.g. in n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER, the order p/PHONE_NUMBER n/NAME also works.

  • Extra words for commands that do not take any parameters (such as list or help) will be ignored.
    e.g. list 10 n/John Doe z/Extra will be interpreted as just list.

  • If you are using the PDF version of this user guide, be careful when copy-pasting commands that span multiple lines. Spaces surrounding line breaks may get omitted when copied over to the app.

Adding a contact: add

Adds a new contact.

Note that contacts are identified by their name in ConText, and contacts with exactly the same name (including casing) are considered the same contact. Hence, you will not be able to add a new contact with the same name as an existing contact.

For example, if you already have a contact with name John Doe, you will not be able to add another contact with the same name John Doe. For two names to be considered the same, they must be identical in every way, and that includes casing, as well as whitespace in the middle of the name, etc. Therefore, you may add another contact with name John doe, John Doe, or Alex John Doe. You may also first modify the name of the existing contact.

Should you need to make changes to an existing contact, use the edit command as explained below.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL [o/NOTE] [t/TAG]... [a/ALTERNATE_CONTACT]...

:information_source: About phone number Phone numbers must contain at least 3 digits. You can add extra information after digits for you to keep track of what the number is for. For additional phone numbers, please make use of ALTERNATE_CONTACT

:information_source: About tags:

  • Duplicate tags are only counted once.
  • Specifying empty tags (t/ with no value) is not allowed when adding contacts. If you wish to specify no tags, you may simply leave out the t/ parameter.

:information_source: About the alternate contact format:

  • The format for ALTERNATE_CONTACT is TYPE: USERNAME, roughly looking like SocialMedia: Username. Ensure to include a space between the colon : and the Username.
  • Do note at this moment whitespace is not supported for TYPE and USERNAME. USERNAME only supports alphanumerics and some special characters ., _ and -.
  • Specifying empty alternate contacts (a/ with no value) is not allowed when adding contacts. If you wish to specify no alternate contacts, you may simply leave out the a/ parameter.

Examples:

  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/john.doe@email.com (Adds a contact with the name John Doe, phone 98765432 and email john.doe@email.com)
  • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/john.doe@email.com o/Likes SE. t/NUS t/CS2103 course a/Telegram: JohnDoe (Adds a contact with the name John Doe, phone 98765432, email john.doe@email.com, note Likes SE., tags NUS and CS2103 course and alternate contact Telegram: JohnDoe)

Editing a contact: edit

Edits an existing contact at the specified INDEX.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [e/EMAIL] [o/NOTE] [t/TAG]... [a/ALTERNATE_CONTACT]...

:information_source: About index numbers: INDEX refers to the index number currently shown in the displayed contact list (#1, #2, #3 etc.). Indices must be a positive integer to be valid (1, 2, 3 etc.), and must exist in the displayed contact list. Contacts are 1-indexed, that is, the first contact has index number 1. Index number 0 is not valid.
:information_source: About phone/tags/the alternate contact format: Please refer to the above.

  • At least one of the optional parameters must be specified.

  • Each specified parameter will have its new value(s) replace all existing value(s) for that parameter.
    e.g. edit 1 n/The Myth will edit the name of contact #1 to The Myth, without changing any other parameter values for that contact.

    • When editing tags, the new specified tag(s) will similarly replace all existing tag(s).
      You can specify no tags (i.e. clear all tags) via a single t/ without a value.
    • Likewise, when editing alternate contacts, you can specify no alternate contacts (i.e. clear all alternate contacts) via a single a/ without a value.

Examples:

  • edit 1 p/87654321 e/jane_doe@nus.edu.sg (Edits the phone number and email address of contact #1 to 87654321 and jane_doe@nus.edu.sg respectively.)

  • edit 3 o/Member of NUS S/U t/ (Edits the note of contact #3 to Member of NUS S/U and clears any of its existing tags.)

Deleting contacts: delete

Deletes the contact(s) at the specified INDEX or indices.

Format: delete INDEX...

:information_source: About index numbers: Please refer to the above.

  • You can delete multiple contacts at once by specifying multiple indices separated by spaces.

  • Duplicate indices are only counted once.
    e.g. delete 1 1 will only delete the contact at index #1.
  • Invalid indices will cause abortion of the delete command.

Examples:

  • delete 1 (Deletes the contact at index #1.)

  • delete 1 3 5 (Deletes the contacts at indices #1, #3, and #5.)

Clearing all contacts: clear

:exclamation: Caution: This command will immediately delete all your contacts. Use with care!

Format: clear

Listing all contacts: list

Shows all contacts.

Format: list

Finding by name: find

Shows contacts whose names have a word that fully matches any of the specified keywords.

Format: find KEYWORD...

  • The search is case-insensitive.
    e.g. Keyword john will match the name John.

  • The order of the keywords does not matter.
    e.g. Keywords Amy John will show the same contacts as keywords John Amy.

  • Only full words will be matched.
    e.g. Keyword John will not match the names Johnny or Jo.

  • Each name only needs one word to fully match at least one keyword (i.e. OR search).
    e.g. find Bee John will match the names Amy Bee and John Doe.

Examples:

  • find John
  • find amy Ben CHARLOTTE

Filtering by tag: filter

Shows contacts with a tag that fully matches the specified tag (case-insensitive).

Format: filter TAG

  • The search is case-insensitive.
    e.g. filter friend will match the tag Friend.

  • Only full tags will be matched.
    e.g. filter Fri will not match the tag Friend.
    e.g. filter Friend will not match the tag Close Friend.

  • The keyword can contain spaces.
    e.g. filter Close Friend will match the tag Close Friend (and this tag only).
    e.g. filter Close⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Friend will not match the tag Close Friend.

  • In summary, filter looks for tags which are an exact match, ignoring casing only.

Examples:

  • filter NUS
  • filter CS2103 course

Viewing help: help

Opens a subwindow with a convenient link to the user guide.

Format: help

Alternatively, you can press F1 or click Help → Help in the top toolbar.

Exiting the app: exit

Exits the app.

Format: exit

Alternatively, you can click File → Exit in the top toolbar.

Automatic sorting

The displayed contact list is always automatically sorted in ascending alphabetical order, regardless of capitalization.

Automatic saving

Your contacts get automatically saved to the file system after each successful command execution. There is no need to save manually.

Editing the data file

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

:exclamation: Caution: If your changes to the data file make its format invalid, ConText 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.

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 ConText home folder.

Command summary

Action Command Format Example Usage
Adding a contact add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL [o/NOTE] [t/TAG]... [a/ALTERNATE_CONTACT]... add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/john.doe@email.com
    add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/john.doe@email.com o/Likes SE. t/NUS t/CS2103 course a/Telegram: JohnDoe
Editing a contact edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE_NUMBER] [e/EMAIL] [o/NOTE] [t/TAG]... [a/ALTERNATE_CONTACT]... edit 1 p/87654321 e/jane_doe@nus.edu.sg
    edit 3 o/Member of NUS S/U t/
Deleting contacts delete INDEX... delete 1
    delete 1 3 5
Clearing all contacts clear clear
Listing all contacts list list
Finding by name find KEYWORD... find John
    find amy Ben CHARLOTTE
Filtering by tag filter TAG filter NUS
    filter CS2103 course
Viewing help help help
Exiting the app exit exit

Known limitations

  1. Long contact details are not in the product’s scope.
    e.g. names/phone numbers/emails/notes/tags/alternate contacts with hundreds of characters.
    Such long text is likely to get shortened with ellipses (...) or cut off by the app’s window.
    You may try to remedy this by resizing the app’s window to be wider.

  2. Multiple monitors are not in the product’s scope.
    When using multiple monitors, if you move the app’s window to a secondary monitor, then later switch to using just the primary monitor, the GUI will reopen off-screen.
    You can remedy this by deleting the settings.json file created by the app before running the app again.