H'Reers User Guide

Managing employee details, birthdays, and work anniversaries can be time-consuming and prone to error. For HR professionals, keeping track of all this information manually can become overwhelming, even in small to medium organizations. H'Reers is designed to solve these issues by offering an intuitive desktop application with both a GUI and CLI for seamless interaction.

With features like adding, editing, and deleting employee records and adding birthdays and anniversaries, H'Reers helps you to stay organized, accurate, and on top of important milestones. The Reminder system provides a focused view of your employees with upcoming events occurring within the next 3 days. When the command is used, new panels appear beside the main list, displaying the filtered employees.

By centralizing these tasks in one tool, H'Reers makes employee management more efficient and less error-prone, saving you time and improving overall workflow.

Whether you need to track employee milestones, update records, or generate quick reports, H'Reers gives you command-line precision with a simple, friendly interface to back it up.

✅ Designed for fast-paced HR workflows.
🧠 CLI-first so power users get things done quickly.
🎯 Never miss an anniversary, birthday, or detail again.

📚 What You’ll Find in This Guide

1. Quick Start
2. Features
3. Core Commands
   • Viewing help: help
   • Adding an employee: add
   • Editing an employee: edit
   • Deleting an employee: delete
   • Undoing the last command: undo
   • Listing all employees: list
   • Locating employees: find
4. Anniversary Commands
   • Showing anniversaries: showAnni
   • Adding anniversaries: addAnni
   • Deleting anniversaries deleteAnni
5. Reminder Commands
   • Viewing upcoming anniversaries reminder
6. Quality of Life Commands
   • Clearing all entries: clear
   • Exiting the program: exit
7. Data Management
   • Saving the data
   • Editing the data file
   • Importing data: import
   • Exporting data: export
8. FAQ & TroubleShooting
9. Known issues
10. All Commands at a Glance
11. Glossary

Quick start

1. Make sure Java is installed

   H'Reers runs on Java, a safe and widely-used technology.You need Java version 17.

   • Windows Users: Click here for step-by-step instructions.

   • Mac Users: Follow this detailed guide to install the correct version.

   • Not sure if Java is already installed? Open your terminal or command prompt and type:

   java -version
   

   If the version shows 17, you're good to go

2. Download H'Reers

   1. Go to the official download page here.
   2. Download the latest file ending with .jar.(It may look something like hreers-1.0.jar)
   3. Save it in a folder(home folder) where you want your H'Reers data to live.

3. Start the Application

   1. Open your command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Mac/Linux).
   2. Navigate to the folder where you saved the .jar file. For example:

       cd /path/to/your/folder
      

   3. Run this command:

      java -jar hreers.jar
      

   4. H'Reers will open in a few seconds with a simple GUI, ready to use!

4. Try a Few Commands H'reers is shipped with a few sample data for you to try out a few commands to get used to it. Here is our recommended list of commands to try - just type them in the command box and press Enter:

   • list : Lists all contacts.

   • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com jb/Crypto Minor bd/2000-01-01 wa/2014-12-12 : Adds a contact named John Doe to H'Reers.

   • delete Employee_ID_prefix : Deletes the specified employee contact. Note: Employee_ID_prefix has to pinpoint only one Employee for delete to work.

   • clear : Deletes all contacts.

   • exit : Exits the app.

5. Learn More

• You can explore all available features and commands in the Features below.

Features

This section walks you through the essential commands for managing your employee records — from adding new hires to updating details or removing old entries.

Whether you’re onboarding someone, searching through your team list, or making quick edits, these commands help you get it done fast — all from the command line.

You’ll also find helpful notes below on how to format your commands, including optional fields, parameter order, and best practices.

All commands (eg. add, showAnni) are Case sensitive and must be entered exactly as shown.

Core Commands

Viewing help: help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

Format: help

Adding an employee: add

You can use this command to add a new employee to H'Reers.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL jp/JOB [t/TAG]… [bd/DATE] [wa/DATE]​

Date format: YYYY-MM-DD

Examples:

• add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com jp/President bd/2001-01-01 wa/2020-07-08
  • Adds John Doe to H'Reers with birthday and work anniversary tracked.
• add n/Betsy Crowe t/Part Time Worker e/betsycrowe@example.com jp/Cleaner p/1234567 t/Personal Trainer bd/2005-12-01 wa/2025-05-21
  • Adds Betsy Crowe with two tags (Part Time Worker and Personal Trainer) and both standard anniversaries.

Editing an employee: edit

Edits an existing employee in H'Reers.

Format: edit Employee_ID_prefix [n/NAME] [eid/EMPLOYEE_ID] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [jp/JOB] [t/TAG]…​

• Edits the specified employee. The Employee ID can be shortened down and not necessarily needed to type in the full ID. The Employee ID prefix must be Unique.
• At least one of the optional fields must be provided.
• Existing values will be updated to the input values.
• When editing tags, the existing tags of the employee will be removed i.e adding of tags is not cumulative.
• You can remove all the employee’s tags by typing t/ without specifying any tags after it.
• You can change the employee id by typing edit Employee_ID_prefix eid/Employee_ID where Employee_ID is the new full string of a valid eid.

Examples:

• edit 1re p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com Edits the phone number and email address of the specified employee to be 91234567 and johndoe@example.com respectively.
• edit 2dsf n/Betsy Crower t/ Edits the name of the specified employee to be Betsy Crower and clears all existing tags.
• edit 1sdg21 eid/3b9417cc-cf4e-4231-bc4d-4fd167c2abc6 Edits the employee id to be now 3b9417cc-cf4e-4231-bc4d-4fd167c2abc6 so long as no such employee id already exists.

Deleting an employee: delete

Deletes the specified employee from H'Reers.

Format: delete Employee_ID_prefix

• Deletes the employee of the specified Employee ID.
• The Employee ID must be valid and unique

Examples:

• list followed by delete Employee_ID_prefix deletes the specified employee.

Undoing the last command: undo

Will undo to before the data is changed.

Format: undo

• Only works if any data in H'Reers has been changed.

Output:

• If data has been changed: Undo successful!
• No data changed: No undo available!

Examples:

• undo Will return the previous changed saved data.
• undo 2 Will still return to the previous changed saved data as undo ignores all parameters after it.

Listing all employees: list

You can use this command when you want to view all employees currently stored in H'Reers.

Format: list

• This shows every employee in the system — regardless of filters you may have used previously.
• If you've just used the find command and want to see the full list again, simply type list.

Locating employees: find

You can use this command to search for employees whose name or/and job position contains specific keywords.

Tip: You can use this format in 3 ways!

Format 1 (Searching for name): find n/KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

Format 2 (Searching for job positions): find jp/KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

Format 3 (Searching for both name and job positions): find n/KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS] jp/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
• [For Job Positions] Only full words will be matched e.g. Mana will not match Manager
• [For Name] Partial words can be matched e.g. Han will match Hans

Examples:

• find n/li returns David Li and Real Li
• find n/david Li returns David Li and Real Li
• find n/li ri jp/ dev manager returns David Li, Real Ri and Real Li
  

The screenshot below shows the result of the command find n/li ri jp/ dev manager with all 3 employees existing in the system:

Anniversary Commands

Great HR isn’t just about managing people — it’s about remembering what matters.

This section helps you keep track of key employee milestones like work anniversaries, promotions, or other custom events. Celebrate achievements, strengthen morale, and never let an important date slip by. With just a few commands, you can:

• Add meaningful events tied to specific employees
• View Anniversaries related to a specific employee
• View all upcoming anniversaries (Minseok go add this)
• Remove outdated or incorrect entries

Showing anniversaries: showAnni

You can use this command to view all anniversaries linked to a specific employee, based on their Employee ID.

Format: showAnni eid/Employee_ID

What will you see:

• A new window will open showing the employee’s anniversaries.
• You’ll see details like the date, name, and description of each anniversary.
• If you’re new to the app, you can also use the “Show Anniversaries” button in the GUI instead of typing the command.

Example:

• showAnni eid/e22e5292-0353-49a9-9281-5a76e53bc94f
  • Opens a window showing anniversaries for the employee with the specified ID.

Adding Anniversaries: addAnni

Adds an anniversary to an employee's record in the Hreers application. This command can create custom Anniversaries that were otherwise not supported within the add Command. As the application's purpose is to keep track of upcoming anniversaries, it is allows the addition of anniversaries that are in the future. As a precautionary measure against deliberate attacks to the system, certain words, such as drop or other backspace characters are disallowed for anniversary names or types.

**Tip:** You can use this format in 3 ways!

Format 1 : default format for custom anniversaries

addAnni eid/EMPLOYEE_ID_PREFIX d/DATE an/ANNIVERSARY_NAME at/ANNIVERSARY_TYPE [ad/DESCRIPTION] [atdesc/TYPE_DESCRIPTION]

Format 2 : short form support for Birthdays

addAnni eid/EMPLOYEE_ID_PREFIX n/name bd/DATE

Format 3 : short form support for Work Anniversaries

addAnni eid/EMPLOYEE_ID_PREFIX n/name wa/DATE

Examples :

addAnni eid/0c2414da d/2025-03-13 an/Silver Wedding at/Wedding ad/Celebrating 25 years atdesc/Personal

• addAnni - the addAnniversary command you are running
• eid/0c2414da: the Employee Id prefix of the employee you are trying to attach the anniversary to
• d/2025-03-13: the date of the anniversary on 2025-03-13
• an/Silver Wedding: the name of the anniversary Silver Wedding
• at/Wedding: The name of the anniversary type - Wedding
• ad/Celebrating 25 years : The description of the anniversary - Celebrating 25 years (optional)
• atdesc/Personal: The description of the anniversary type -Personal (optional)

If exactly one employee’s ID starts with 0c2414da, this will create a Silver Wedding anniversary of the type Wedding for that employee, with an optional description and additional type descriptors.

addAnni eid/0c2414da n/Alex shenanigans bd/2025-03-13

• addAnni - the addAnniversary command declaration
• eid/0c2414da: the Employee Id prefix of the employee you are trying to attach the anniversary to
• n/Alex shenanigans: the name of the person you are attaching the birthday to (note that it is strongly recommended to use the name of the person the employee id belongs, unless otherwise needed)
• bd/2025-03-13: the date of the anniversary on 2025-03-13 If exactly one employee’s ID starts with 0c2414da, this will create a birthday (anniversary) with the Persons' name specified in the command.

addAnni eid/0c2414da n/Alex shenanigans wa/2025-03-13

• addAnni - the addAnniversary command declaration
• eid/0c2414da: the Employee Id prefix of the employee you are trying to attach the anniversary to
• n/Alex shenanigans: the name of the person you are attaching the birthday to (note that it is strongly recommended to use the name of the person the employee id belongs, unless otherwise needed)
• wa/2025-03-13: the date of the anniversary on 2025-03-13 If exactly one employee’s ID starts with 0c2414da, this will create a work anniversary with the Persons' name specified in the command.

Options summary

Deleting Anniversaries: deleteAnni

Removes a specific anniversary from an existing employee’s record, based on the anniversary's order within the Employee's list of anniversaries. If successful, the chosen anniversary will no longer appear in that employee’s list of anniversaries.

Format:

deleteAnniversary eid/EMPLOYEE_ID ai/INDEX

Examples:

deleteAnniversary eid/0c2414da ai/1

• deleteAnniversary - the command you are running
• eid/0c2414da: the Employee Id prefix you are attaching the anniversary to
• ai/1: the index of the anniversary you want to delete this will delete the anniversary at index 1 of the employee with the Employee ID prefix 0c2414da.

Options Summary

Reminder Command

Viewing upcoming anniversaries: reminder

You can use this command to view all employee anniversaries (birthdays, work anniversaries, and custom anniversaries) that are occurring within the next 3 days.

Format: reminder

What will you see:

• A reminder panel appears on the right side of the UI.
• All upcoming anniversaries (within 3 days) will be displayed in one combined list.
• Each reminder card shows:
  • The employee’s name
  • Their job position
  • The type and name of the anniversary (e.g., 🎂 Birthday, 🎉 Work Anniversary, 🥂 Custom)
  • The anniversary date
  • How many days remain (e.g., “in 2 days”)

Example:

• reminder
  • Displays a unified list of upcoming birthdays, work anniversaries, and custom anniversaries.

Example UI:

Each card in the reminder panel corresponds to one upcoming anniversary for an employee.

Quality of Life Features

Clearing all entries: clear

Clears all entries from H'Reers.

Format: clear

Exiting the program: exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Data Management

Saving the data

H'Reers 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

H'Reers data are saved automatically as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/H'Reers.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, H'Reers 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 H'Reers to behave in unexpected ways (e.g., if a value entered is outside of the acceptable range). Therefore, edit the data file only if you are confident that you can update it correctly.

Importing data: import

You can use import to bring external data (in CSV or JSON) into your current Hreers application. Depending on the write mode (append or overwrite), you can either merge the new data with your existing records or replace them entirely. For CSV based inputs, multiple rows with same employeeId and same details(name, job position, phone number, email) will be collapsed into one entry in Hreers

Command Format

import ft/FILE_TYPE fp/FILE_PATH fn/FILE_NAME wm/WRITE_MODE

Parameters

Example Usage

import ft/json fp/data/ fn/contacts wm/append

Explanation: import — the command you're running ft/json — file type is JSON fp/data/ — file path is the data/ directory fn/contacts — file name is contacts (without extension) this will import the file contacts.json from /data directory and append the data to the current Hreers application.

import ft/json fp/data/ fn/contacts wm/overwrite

Explanation: import — the command you're running ft/json — file type is JSON fp/data/ — file path is the data/ directory fn/contacts — file name is contacts (without extension) this will import the file contacts.json from /data directory and overwrite the data to the current Hreers application.

import ft/csv fp/data/contacts.csv wm/append

Explanation: import — the command you're running ft/csv — file type is CSV fp/data/contacts.csv — file path is the data/ directory this will import the file contacts.csv from /data directory and append the data to the current Hreers application.

Exporting data: export

saves the currently visible list of people in the Hreers application to a file (JSON or CSV).

Format

export ft/FILE_TYPE [fp/FILE_PATH] [fn/FILE_NAME]

Example Usage

export ft/json fp/data/ fn/contacts

Explanation: export — the command you're running ft/json — file type is JSON fp/data/ — file path is the data/ directory fn/contacts — file name is contacts (without extension)

This will save your current contact list as a file named contacts.json in the data/ folder.

export ft/csv fp/data/contacts.csv

Explanation: export — the command you're running ft/csv — file type is CSV fp/data/contacts.csv — file path is the data/ directory and the file name is contacts.csv - note that if you want to define the file within the file path, you have to ensure that the file type matches the extension of your file. so contaacts.json when set to csv will give you an error

This will save your current contact list as a file named contacts.csv in the data/ folder.

export ft/json fp/data/ fn/contacts

Explanation: export — the command you're running ft/json — file type is JSON fp/data/ — file path is the data/ directory fn/contacts — file name is contacts (without extension)

This will save your current contact list as a file named contacts.json in the data/ folder.

export ft/json

Explanation: export — the command you're running ft/json — file type is JSON

This will save your current contact list as a file named output.json in the folder where the jar is stored. As a convenience, on the in-app output, it will show how many employees have been saved.

Options Summary

Frequently asked questions and Troubleshooting

We know that even the smoothest apps can have a few bumps along the way. This section is here to help you solve common problems and answer questions that come up often — no tech expertise required.

Whether you're setting up H'Reers on a new machine or wondering why the help window isn't showing up, we’ve got you covered.

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 H'Reers home folder.

Known issues

1. Multiple Monitor Setup: 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.
   • Solution: Delete the preferences.json file created by the application before running the application again.
2. Help Window: 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.
   • Solution: Manually restore the minimized Help Window.
3. Full-Screen Help Window: When the app is in full-screen mode, clicking the help button opens the Help Window in a new full-screen view rather than as a pop-up overlay.
   • Solution: Exit full-screen mode before opening the Help Window to have it display as a pop-up.

Command summary

Glossary

• CLI (Command Line Interface): A text-based interface used to type commands
• GUI (Graphical User Interface): A user interface that allows interaction with the software through visual elements like buttons and icons.