Overview

HR Insight is a desktop app for HR people, optimized for use via a Command Line Interface (CLI) while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The purpose of this app is to provide HR employees a centralized employee management system to better manage all employees’ details and improve the efficiency of their workflow.

HR Insight proves to be a particularly valuable tool for professionals specializing in the domains of Employee Benefits, Employee Engagement and Administration.

  • Employee Benefits in terms of keeping count of employees’ leaves and claims.
  • Employee Engagement in terms of tracking employees’ birthday.
  • Administration in terms of keeping record of employees’ details.

Quick start

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

  2. Download the latest HRInsight.jar from here.

  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your HR Insight.

  4. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in, and use the java -jar HRInsight.jar command to run the application.

    A GUI similar to the one 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.
    Some example commands you can try:

    • help : Opens a web browser tab explaining the features HR Insight offers.

    • add n/John Doe p/87654321 e/john.doe@gmail.com a/Tokyo s/5000 b/2000 d/Sales dob/1992-07-21 :
      Adds an employee named John Doe to the employee list.

    • list : Lists all the details of an organization’s employees.

    • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd employee shown in the current list.

    • edit 1 p/1234567 : Edits phone attribute for the 1st employee in the list.

    • find : Finds employees whose names match any of the given keywords.

    • clear : Deletes all employees from the database.

    • claim 2 $/-60 : Deducts $60 from the claim budget of the 2nd employee in the list.

    • leave 1 m/1 : Indicates 1st employee in the list will be taking leave in Jan.

    • view_leave m/2 : Displays employees who have taken leaves in the Feb.

    • reset_leaves : Resets all employees to have no recorded leaves.

    • birthday m/3 : Displays employees who are born in Mar.

    • view n/1,2 : View respective names of the 1st and 2nd employee in the list.

    • sort phone : Sorts employees based on their phone numbers in ascending order.

    • undo : Undo the most recent commands that modified the employee list.

    • redo : Redo the most recent commands that was undone.

    • export all_employee : Exports employees’ data into csv with filename of all_employee.csv.

    • theme light : Change the application theme to light theme.

    • exit : Exits the app.

  6. You can navigate through your previous commands using or on your keyboard, just like your computer’s CLI or terminal.

  7. 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 n/NAME, NAME is a parameter that can be used as add n/John Doe.

  • Items in square brackets are optional.
    e.g list [d/DEPARTMENT] can be used as list or as list d/Engineering.

  • 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.

  • Parameters given outside the command format will throw an error or affect other parameters.
    e.g. list [d/DEPARTMENT] only accepts d/ parameter. list z/all will throw an error.

  • We allow all employee names, not limited to alphanumeric names, to accommodate names such as X AE A-Xii, Dr. Adam Smith, Ph.D., and $helly.

  • All words in the parameters given cannot start with the prefixes in that command.
    e.g. add command requires n/ p/ e/ a/ s/ b/ d/ dob/​ prefixes.
    Therefore, names given in add command cannot contain these prefixes because they have been reserved for that command.
    This constraint applies for all words in all parameters in that command.
    To accommodate names with s/o or d/o, we recommend to use S/O or D/O instead.

  • 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.

Viewing help : help

Automatically opens a new tab in your default browser to this User Guide page.

If HRInsight is unable to redirect you to the page, it will show a dialog box containing URL to this page.

Format: help

Adding an employee: add

Adds an employee to the employee list.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS s/SALARY b/CLAIM_BUDGET d/DEPARTMENT dob/BIRTH_DATE (YYYY-MM-DD)​

Examples:

  • add n/Adam p/12345678 e/adam@gmail.com a/Singapore s/10000 b/5000 d/Engineering dob/2000-01-01
  • add n/John Doe p/87654321 e/john.doe@gmail.com a/Tokyo s/5000 b/2000 d/Sales dob/1992-07-21
  • add n/Tharman Shanmugaratnam p/98723459 e/tharman@gmail.com a/Istana, Singapore s/10000 b/10000 d/President dob/1957-02-25

Executing command: add n/Adam p/12345678 e/adam@gmail.com a/Singapore s/10000 b/5000 d/Engineering dob/2000-01-01

AddEmployeeBeforeAfter

Listing all employees : list

Lists all the details of an organization’s employees, or list all employees of a specified department.

Format: list [d/DEPARTMENT]

Examples:

  • list Lists all employees in the employee list.
  • list d/Engineering Lists all employees in the Engineering department.
  • list d/Sales Lists all employees in the Sales department.

Executing command: list d/Engineering

ListEmployeesBeforeAfter

ListEmployeesBeforeAfter

Deleting an employee : delete

Delete an employee in the employee list by the specified index.

Format: delete INDEX

  • Deletes the employee at the specified INDEX.
  • The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed employee list.
  • The index must be a positive integer: 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

  • list followed by delete 2 deletes the 2nd person in the employee list.
  • find Betsy followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st person in the results of the find command.
  • list d/Engineering followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st person in the employee list.

Executing command: delete 1

DelEmployeeBeforeAfter

DelEmployeeBeforeAfter

Editing an employee’s information : edit

Edits an existing employee in the employee list by the specified index.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [s/SALARY] [d/DEPARTMENT] [dob/BIRTH_DATE (YYYY-MM-DD)]

  • Edits the employee at the specified INDEX. The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed employee list. 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.
  • Some prefixes allow for additional descriptors to accommodate a variety of input data that fits within the context of the field, provided they conform to the input requirements.
    • For [n/NAME], specific descriptors (S/O, D/O, etc.) are allowed. Ensure that the full input between the prefix and the next space or prefix is intended as part of the name.

Examples:

  • edit 1 p/23423423 e/barry@example.com Edits the phone number and email address of the 1st person to be 23423423 and barry@example.com respectively.
  • edit 1 n/thomas S/O anthony a/Serangoon Edits the name and address of the 1st person to be thomas S/O anthony and Serangoon respectively.
  • edit 2 s/1000 d/Sales dob/2000-01-01 Edits the salary, department and DOB of the 2nd person to be $1000, Sales and 1 January 2000 respectively.

Executing command: edit 1 p/23423423 e/barry@gmail.com

EditEmployeeBeforeAfter

EditEmployeeBeforeAfter

Finding employees by name: find

Finds employees whose names match any of the given keywords.

Format: find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

  • The search is case-insensitive, e.g hans will match Hans.
  • The order of the keywords does not matter, e.g. Hans Bo will match Bo Hans.
  • Only the name is searched.
  • Only full words will be matched, e.g. Han will not match Hans.
  • Persons matching at least one keyword will be returned (i.e., OR search). e.g. Hans Bo will return Hans Gruber, Bo Yang.

Examples:

  • find John returns john and John Doe
  • find alex david returns Alex Yeoh, David Li
  • find Bernice returns bernice.

Executing command: find Bernice

FindBeforeAfter

FindBeforeAfter

Clearing all entries: clear

Clear all entries from the employee list.

Format: clear

Executing Command: clear

ClearBeforeAfter

Managing employee’s claims: claim

Performs adjustments to employee’s claims.

Format: claim INDEX $/CLAIM_AMOUNT

  • The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed employee list.
  • The index must be a positive integer 1,2,3, …
  • The CLAIM_AMOUNT should consist of either + or - which symbolizes adding/deducting respectively followed by the amount.
    • If the CLAIM_AMOUNT is positive, it symbolizes allocation of more funds to the user’s claim budget.
    • If the CLAIM_AMOUNT is negative, it symbolizes deduction of funds from the user’s claim budget.

Examples:

  • list followed by claim 1 $/-500 deducts $50 from employee 1’s claim budget.
  • list followed by claim 2 $/+60 allocates additional $60 to employee 2’s claim budget.
  • list followed by claim 3 $-1000 deducts $1000 from employee 3’s claim budget.

Executing command: claim 1 $/-500

ClaimCommandBeforeAfter

ClaimCommandBeforeAfter

Adding employee’s Leave: leave

Adds leave months for an employee.

Format: leave INDEX m/MONTHS

  • The INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed employee list.
  • The INDEX must be a positive integer 1,2,3, …
  • The MONTHS refers to the month of the leave the employee is taking in integer format (between 1-12).
  • Positive MONTHS add leaves on the specified months and negative MONTHS remove them.
  • Trailing commas in MONTHS (leave 1 m/1,2,3,,,) will be ignored, but empty months elsewhere (leave 1 m/1,,,2) will raise an error.

Examples:

  • list followed by leave 1 m/3,4 adds leaves in March and April for the 1st employee in the list.
  • list followed by leave 3 m/11,-12 adds a leave in Nov and removes a leave in Dec for the 3rd employee in the list.
  • list followed by leave 2 m/3 adds a leave in March for the 2nd employee in the list.

Executing command: leave 1 m/1,3

leaveBeforeAfter

leaveBeforeAfter

Viewing all employees’ leaves : view_leave

Views all employees who are on leave, with optional filters of month and department.

Format: view_leave [m/MONTHS] [d/DEPARTMENT]

  • Gives a list of all employees who have leaves planned for the year.
  • The MONTHS and DEPARTMENT are optional arguments.
  • Multiple MONTHS can be specified, in which employees who have planned leaves in any of the specified months will be shown (“either or” relationship).
  • When specifying multiple MONTHS, the months should be separated with commas with no spaces.
  • If no one in the specified department has planned leave dates for the given month(s), an output indicating no employees is taking leave is shown.
  • Trailing commas in MONTHS (view_leave m/1,2,3,,,) will be ignored, but empty months elsewhere (view_leave m/1,,,2) will raise an error.

Examples:

  • view_leave displays all employees who have planned leave dates in the current year.
  • view_leave m/10 displays all employees who are taking leave in October.
  • view_leave m/1,2 displays all employees who are taking leave in January or February.
  • view_leave m/10 d/IT displays all employees in the IT department who are taking leave in October.

Executing command: view_leave m/1,3

viewLeaveBeforeAfter

viewLeaveBeforeAfter

Resetting all employees’ leaves : reset_leaves

Reset all employees to have no recorded leaves.

Format: reset_leaves

Executing command: reset_leaves

ResetLeavesBeforeAfter

ResetLeavesBeforeAfter

Viewing all birthdays in a given month : birthday

Views all employees’ birthday in the given months.

Format: birthday [m/MONTH(s)]

  • Gives a list of all employees who have upcoming birthdays in the inquired month(s).
  • The month argument is optional. If no month is provided, the birthdays in the current month are listed.
  • If there is no birthday in the month provided, return No employees have birthdays in this month.
  • Months are separated using “,”, e.g. to inquire the employees who have birthdays in Mar and Apr, the input is birthday m/3,4.
  • Trailing commas in MONTH(s) (birthday m/1,2,3,,,) will be ignored, but empty months elsewhere (birthday m/1,,,2) will raise an error.

Examples:

  • birthday displays all employees who have their birthday in the current month.
  • birthday m/10 displays all employees who have their birthday in the month of October.
  • birthday m/1,3,4 displays all employees who have their birthday in the month of Jan, Mar and Apr.

Executing command: birthday m/1

BirthdayBeforeAfter

BirthdayBeforeAfter

Viewing employee’s details: view

Views employee(s)’s personal attribute.

Format: view [n/INDEX] [a/INDEX] [e/INDEX] [p/INDEX] [s/INDEX] [b/INDEX] [d/INDEX] [dob/INDEX]

  • ViewCommand provides overview of employee(s)’s attributes.
  • Maximum of one prefix is allowed. This means the user can only view one attribute at a time.
  • INDEX refers to the index number shown in the displayed employee list.
  • INDEX parameters can either be a single digit or digits separated by “,”.

Examples:

  • view s/1,2 displays the 1st and 2nd employee respective salaries.
  • view a/3,4 displays the 3rd and 4th employee respective addresses.
  • view dob/1,5 displays the 1st and 5th employee respective DOB.

Executing command: view p/1,5

ViewAttributeBeforeAfter

Sorting the employee list: sort

Sorts the employee list based on the given parameter.

Format: sort name / phone / email / address / salary / claim / dep / dob [desc]

  • Choose one parameter from name / phone / email / address / salary / claim / dep / dob to sort.
  • Put desc to sort in descending order.

Examples:

  • sort name to sort the employee list based on name in ascending order.
  • sort salary desc to sort the employee list based on salary in descending order.
  • sort claim to sort the employee list based on claim budget in ascending order.

Executing command: sort name desc

SortNamesBeforeAfter

Undoing previous commands: undo

Undo the most recent commands that modified the employee list, i.e., add, edit, delete, leave, reset_leaves, clear, sort, redo commands.

Format: undo

Executing command: undo

UndoBeforeAfter

Redoing previous undone commands: redo

Redo the most recent commands that was undone.

Format: redo

You cannot redo your most recent undone command if, after your last undo, you execute another command(s) that modifies the employee list.

Executing command: redo

RedoBeforeAfter

Exporting employee’s details: export

Export employee’s details into a csv file format.

Format: export [file_name]

  • ExportCommand provides HR employees a way to download employees’ data into CSV format.
  • The exported file_name.csv will be found in the Exported_CSVs folder.
  • You must provide a file_name. File_name can comprise alphanumeric and special characters.
  • To export only a subset of employees, user should perform filtering before exporting.

Examples:

  • list followed by export all_data will download all employees’ attributes into a csv file.
  • list d/Engineering then export engineering_team will only download employees in engineering department.
  • birthday m/1 then export birthday_Jan will only download employees with birthdays in January.

ExportCSVBeforeAfter

Changing the Application Theme : theme

Changes the theme of the application according to the current available options.

Format: theme THEME_NAME

Current available themes: dark, light, red, green, blue.

Examples:

  • theme red Changes the application theme to the red theme.
  • theme light Changes the application theme to light theme.
  • theme green Changes the application theme to green theme.

Executing command: theme light

changeThemeBeforeAfter

Exiting the app: exit

Exits the app.

Format: exit

Saving the data

HR Insight 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

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

**Caution:** If your changes to the data file make its format invalid, HR Insight 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.

More detailed leave records [Coming soon]

Currently, HR Insight only records employees’ leave months. In v2.0, we will record the exact dates of employees’ leaves to provide more detailed leave records.

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another computer?
A: Install the app on the other computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data of your previous HR Insight home folder.

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.

Command summary

Action Format, Examples
Help help
Add add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS s/SALARY b/CLAIM_BUDGET d/DEPARTMENT dob/BIRTH_DATE (YYYY-MM-DD)​
e.g., add n/John Doe p/87654321 e/john.doe@gmail.com a/Tokyo s/5000 b/2000 d/Sales dob/1992-07-21
List list [d/DEPARTMENT]
Delete delete INDEX
e.g., delete 3
Edit edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [s/SALARY] [d/DEPARTMENT] [dob/BIRTH_DATE (YYYY-MM-DD)]
e.g., edit 1 p/23423423 e/barry@example.com
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
e.g., find James Jake
Clear clear
Claim claim INDEX $/CLAIM_AMOUNT
e.g., claim 1 $/-500
Add Leave leave INDEX m/MONTHS
e.g., leave 1 m/3,-4
View Leave view_leave INDEX m/Month d/DEPARTMENT
e.g.,view_leave m/10 d/IT
Reset Leaves reset_leaves
View Birthdays birthday [m/MONTH]
e.g., birthday 10
View Attributes view [n/INDEX] [a/INDEX] [e/INDEX] [p/INDEX] [s/INDEX] [b/INDEX] [d/INDEX] [dob/INDEX]
e.g., view s/1,2
Sort sort name / phone / email / address / salary / claim / dep / dob [desc]
Undo undo
Redo redo
Export Data export [file_name]
e.g., export engineering_dept
Change Theme theme THEME_NAME
e.g., theme light
Exit exit