AutoM8 is a desktop application for auto repair shops that combines the efficiency of a Command Line Interface (CLI) with the user-friendliness of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) making it easy for users to manage tasks such as customer records, vehicle information, services, appointments, and inventory tracking. AutoM8 is a powerful tool that helps auto repair shops save time and increase productivity.

Quick start

  1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed in your Computer.

  2. Download the latest autom8.jar from here.

  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for this application.

  4. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in, and use the java -jar autom8.jar command to run the application.
    A GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.

    Ui

  5. 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.

  6. Refer to the Features below for details of each command.

Features

:information_source: Notes about the command format:

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are the parameters to be supplied by the user.
    e.g. in add appointment c/CUSTOMER_ID d/DATE t/TIME, CUSTOMER_ID, DATE and Time are parameters which can be used as add appointment c/2 d/02/02/2023 t/2pm.

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

  • Items with …​ after them can be used multiple times including zero times.
    e.g. [t/TAG]…​ can be used as   (i.e. 0 times), t/friend, t/friend t/family etc.

  • 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.

  • If a parameter is expected only once in the command but you specified it multiple times, only the last occurrence of the parameter will be taken.
    e.g. if you specify p/12341234 p/56785678, only p/56785678 will be taken.

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

:information_source: Notes command GUI behaviors:

  • The numbers displayed beside the entity is referring to the entity’s id. (e.g. 1. Alex Yeoh, Alex has the Customer id of 1)
  • Using entity specific commands (e.g. commandX, where command is a specific operation such as add, edit, etc and X is a specific entity such as customer, vehicle etc) will help you navigate to the respective tabs (e.g. A successful addvehicle command will navigate you to the Vehicles tab)
  • While clicking on individual items in the items list may cause the UI to show that it is highlighted, the current entity shown in the right panel (Details panel) will not reflect what you have selected*. Please use the respective view commands in order to view details of a specific entity.
  • Entering incorrectly formatted commands will throw an error message with information on command usage, which explains the correct way to use and format the command for your convenience.

Add

Adding a customer: addcustomer

Adds a customer to the system and assigns a unique customer ID.

Format: addcustomer n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAGS]

Example: addcustomer n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01

Adding a technician: addtechnician

Adds a technician to the system and assigns a unique staff ID.

Format: addtechnician n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [t/TAGS]

Example: addtechnician n/Robert Low p/90253789 e/roblow@gmail.com a/25 Bedok East Rd, #08-20, SG405100 t/Leader

Adding a vehicle to a customer: addvehicle

Adds a vehicle of specified type (i.e. motorbike, car) to the system and assigns a unique vehicle ID.

Format: addvehicle p/PLATE_NUMBER b/BRAND c/CUSTOMER_ID cl/COLOR t/TYPE

Examples:

  • addvehicle p/SBA1234A b/Toyota c/1 cl/red t/car
  • addvehicle p/SBG5678B b/Honda c/2 cl/blue t/motorbike

Adding a vehicle part: addpart

Adds a vehicle part to the system.

Format: addpart n/NAME q/QUANTITY

Example: addpart n/Cylinder Head q/50

Adding a service to a vehicle: addservice

Adds a service to perform on the specified vehicle plate number.

Format: addservice v/VEHICLE_ID d/DESCRIPTION [l/SERIVCE LENGTH (days)] [s/STATUS]

Examples:

  • addservice v/10 s/in progress d/Customer says abc
  • addservice v/10 t/standard l/10
    Note: Adding service without specifying the status of service will default to “to repair”
    Note: Adding service without specifying the service length will default to 7 days

Adding a vehicle part to specific service: addservicepart

Adds a vehicle part to a specific service.

Service and part must be registered in the system and part must have sufficient quanity,

Format: addservicepart s/SERVICE ID n/PART NAME q/QUANTITY

Example: addservicepart s/2 n/Cylinder Head q/20

Assigning a technician to a specific service: addservicetech

Assigns an existing technician to an existing service

Format: addservicetech s/SERVICE_ID t/TECHNICIAN_ID

Example: addservicetech s/1 t/3

Adding a customer appointment: addappointment

Adds a customer appointment to the system.

Format: addappointment c/CUSTOMER_ID d/DATE t/TIME

Example: addappointment c/5 d/2023-03-05 t/14:00

Assigning a technician to an appointment: addappointmenttech

Adds an existing technician to an existing appointment.

Format: addappointmenttech a/APPOINTMENT_ID t/TECHNICIAN_ID

Example: addappointmenttech a/1 t/2

List/Sort

Listing all vehicles/customers/parts/appointments/services/technicians: list

Shows all vehicles/customers/parts/appointments/services/technicians and helps navigate you to the respective tab.

We also have a global list command. The “list” command helps to display all entities in their respective tabs while staying on the current tab. Just keep in mind that it doesn’t switch tabs for you, so you’ll need to do that manually by clicking or using the specific listX commands available to help you navigate to the respective tabs.

Format:

  • list(vehicles/customers/parts/appointments/services/technicians)
  • list

Examples:

  • list
  • listvehicles
  • listcustomers
  • listparts
  • listappointments
  • listtechnicians
  • listservices

Sorting displayed lists: sort

Sorts all vehicles/customers/parts/appointments list in ascending or descending direction by a specific param.

Format: sort(vehicles/customers/parts/appointments/services) by/ENTITY_PARAMS [r/] ENTITY_PARAMS are dependent on which entity* and adding r/ means to reverse the sort direction.
To see params are available for each entity for sorting, enter sort(vehicles/customers/parts/appointments/services) and it will show you the command usage with the params you can sort that entity by.

Examples:

  • sortcustomers by/id r/
  • sortvehicles by/brand
  • sortappointments by/date r/
  • sortappointments by/date status

View

Viewing specific vehicles/customers/services/appointments/technicians: view

View a specific vehicle/customer/part/appointment/service detail. Id can be found by using the find or list command.

Format: view(vehicle/customer/appointment/service/technician) ID

Examples:

  • viewvehicle 12
  • viewcustomer 2
  • viewappointment 56
  • viewservice 77

Find

Finding specific vehicles/customers/services/appointments/technicians: find

Finds all entities whose attributes match the specified keywords (case-insensitive) or the given date, to filter and displays them in the relevant tab lists.

Format: find KEYWORD [MORE SPACE-SEPERATED KEYWORDS]

Examples:

  • find alex alex@gmail.com
  • find toyota
  • find completed Oil

Edit

Editing a vehicle/customer/appointment : edit

Updates the specified (Vehicle/Customer/Appointment) information

Format: edit(vehicle/customer/appointment/service/technician) i/ID [?/PARAM] …​

  • Edits the specified object at the specified ID. The id refers to the index number shown in the displayed list from the list or find command. The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​
  • At least one of the optional fields must be provided.
  • Existing values will be updated to the input values.

Examples:

  • editcustomer i/1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com Edits the phone number and email address of the person with id 1 to be 91234567 and johndoe@example.com respectively.
  • editvehicle i/2 p/SBA9876G Edits the plate number of the vehicle with id 2 to be SBA9876G.

Delete

Deleting a vehicle/customer/appointment/service/technician : delete

Deletes the specified vehicle/customer/part/appointment/service from the system and all its related records.

  • Deletes the vehicle/customer/part/appointment/service at the specified ID.
  • The id refers to the index number shown in the displayed list from the list or find command.
  • The id must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Format: delete(vehicle/customer/appointment/service/technician) ID

Example: deletecustomer 12 deletes the customer with id 12 and all their related records in the AutoM8 system.

Deleting a part : delete

Deletes the specified part from the system and all its related records.

  • Deletes the part with the specified NAME.

Format: deletepart NAME

Example: deletepart Cylinder Head deletes the part ‘Cylinder Head’ and all their related records in the AutoM8 system.

Unassign part from service: removeservicepart

Removes part from service and transfers it back into global part List.

Format: removeservicepart s/SERVICE_ID n/PART_NAME q/PART_QTY

Example: removeservicepart s/2 n/Wheels q/2

Unassign technician from service: removeservicetech

Removes an existing technician from an existing service.

Format: removeservicetech t/TECHNICIAN_ID s/SERVICE_ID

Example: removeservicetech t/1 s/2

Unassign technician from appointment: removeappointmenttech

Removes an existing technician from an existing appointment.

Format: removeappointment t/TECHNCIAN_ID a/APPOINTMENT_ID

Example: removeappointmenttech t/1 a/2

Actions

Do note that the Undo and Redo commands are designed to work specifically with commands that alter or change data. See note below to find out what commands can be undo/redo.

Commands that you can undo/redo:

  • add
  • delete
  • edit
  • undo/redo i.e. you can undo a redo, and you can redo an undo

Undo a previously executed command: undo

Undoes certain previously typed command

See above for a list of commands that undo applies to

Format: undo

Example flow:

  1. add customer n/john p/91238765 e/john@gmail.com a/kent ridge street, block 123, #01-01
  2. undo

undo will reverse the add command, causing the system to delete previously added customer.

Redo a previously executed command: redo

Restores most recent command that was undone using undo. If you use a command that is not undo or redo, while in the midst of undoing, there will no longer be commands to redo. Format: redo

Examples:

  • deletecustomer 3 undo redo

After deleting a customer at Index 3 and using undo to reverse the deletion of the customer, using redo will restore the customer back into the list.

Others

Get number of appointments : totalappointment

Finds the number of appointments on the specified date.

Format: totalAppointment d/DATE

Example: totalappointment d/2023-02-03

  • The DATE must follow a YYYY-MM-DD format. The range of allowable years is 0001 to 9999.

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

Format: help

Saving the data

AutoM8 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

AutoM8 data are saved as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/autom8.json. Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

:exclamation: Caution: If your changes to the data file makes its format invalid, AutoM8 will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run.

FAQ

Q: It appears that the index numbers in the list are not in a sequential order, such as 1, 2, 3, and so on, is there something wrong with my AutoM8 app?
A: AutoM8 is actually functioning properly. The numbers you see listed next to the entities are not their index numbers, but rather their unique IDs. The reason why it might appear inconsistent is because our IdGenerator automatically generates IDs based on the highest ID value that has been assigned previously, and then continues sequentially from there. So, the ID numbers might not necessarily be in a perfectly sequential order, but they are still unique and assigned correctly.

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 AutoM8 home folder.

Q: I edited the data file and now AutoM8 throws a fatal error and stops working.
A: It seems that your edit has made some conflicts with the way different parts of information are related to each other. This is probably because AutoM8 has some entities that are closely linked together. When you make edits, it’s important to be cautious of this and make sure that your changes match up with AutoM8’s entity references. You have two options: you can either delete the entire JSON file to reset everything and start fresh, or you can double-check your edits to make sure they are consistent with the way AutoM8 works.

Command summary

Action Format, Examples  
Add Customer addcustomer n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS
e.g., addcustomer n/James Ho p/22224444 e/jamesho@example.com a/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 t/friend t/colleague 		 
Add Technician addtechnician n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS
e.g., addtechnician n/James Ho p/22224444 e/jamesho@example.com a/123, Clementi Rd, 1234665 t/friend t/colleague 		 
Add Vehicle addvehicle p/PLATE_NUMBER b/BRAND c/CUSTOMER_ID t/TYPE
e.g., addvehicle p/SBA1234A b/Toyota c/1 cl/red t/car 		 
Add Vehicle Part addpart n/NAME q/Quantity
e.g., addpart n/Cylinder Head q/50 		 
Add Service addservice v/VEHICLE_ID d/DESCRIPTION [s/STATUS] [l/SERVICE_LENGTH (days)]
e.g., addservice v/10 d/standard s/in progress l/5 		 
Add Part to Service addservicepart s/SERVICE ID n/PART NAME q/QUANTITY
e.g., addservicepart s/2 n/Cylinder Head q/20 		 
Add Technician to Service addservicetech s/SERVICE_ID t/TECHNICIAN_ID
e.g., addservicetech s/1 t/3 		 
Add Customer Appointment addappointment c/CUSTOMER_ID d/DATE t/TIME
e.g.,addappointment c/5 d/2023-03-05 t/14:00 		 
Add Technician to Appointment addappointmenttech a/APPOINTMENT_ID t/TECHNICIAN_ID
e.g., addappointmenttech a/1 t/2 		 
List all Vehicles/Customers/Parts/Appointments list(vehicles/customers/parts/appointments)
e.g., listcustomers, list 		 
Sort Displayed List sort by/ENTITY_PARAM d/DIRECTION
e.g., listvehicles then sort by/brand d/asc 		 
View specific Vehicle/Customer/Service/Appointment/Technician view(vehicle/customer/service/appointment/technician) ID
e.g., viewappointment 56 		 
Find Vehicle/Customer/Service/Appointment/Technician find KEYWORD [MORE SPACE SEPERATED KEYWORDS]
e.g., find toyota car 		 
Edit a specific Vehicle/Customer/Service/Appointment/Technician edit(vehicle/customer/service/appointment/technician) i/ID [?/PARAM] …​
e.g., editcustomer i/1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com 		 
Delete a specific Vehicle/Customer/Service/Appointment/Technician delete(vehicle/customer/part/appointment) ID
e.g., deletecustomer 12 		 
Unassign Technician from Service/Appointment remove(service/appointment)tech t/TECHCICIAN_ID (a//s/)APPOINTMENT/SERVICE_ID
e.g., removeservicetech s/1 t/2 		`
Remove Part from Service removeservicepart s/SERVICE_ID n/PART_NAME q/PART_QUANTITY
e.g., removeservicepart s/1 n/wheels q/2 		 
Get total number appointment on a specified date totalAppointment d/DATE
e.g., totalappointment d/2023-02-03 		 
Undo undo  
Redo redo  
Exit exit  
Help help