By: CS2103T W12-3 Team Since: Sept 2018 Licence: MIT

1. Introduction

3VIA is a great way for learners to reinforce and test out their knowledge. Tired of using a mouse or trackpad to navigate? Don’t worry, 3VIA is optimised for a veteran Command Line Interface (CLI) user, while still having the benefits of a beautiful Graphical User Interface (GUI).

3VIA will spur and energise your desire to be that A* student, without ever leaving the keyboard. We believe that it should only take 3 steps to get that Very Important A (3VIA, get it?).

You can read the user guide from start to finish by jumping right in to Section 2, “Quick Start” to get started or just use it as a reference. Enjoy!

2. Quick Start

  1. Ensure you have Java version 9 or later installed in your computer.

  2. Download the latest 3VIA.jar here and copy the file into the folder you want to use as the home folder for your 3VIA app.

  3. Double-click the icon to start the app. The GUI should appear in a few seconds and you’re ready to go!

    Ui

    Some things to try:
    Type commands in the command box and press Enter to execute it.
    e.g. typing help and pressing Enter will open the help window.

    Here are some example commands you can try:

    • learn : Will direct you to the learn page with all the avaiable cards displayed.

    • add: add q/What is the formula for force? a/force = mass * acceleration t/Physics : adds a card with question What is the formula for force? to the the trivia application.

    • delete3 : deletes the 3rd card in the current list

    • mode : changes the light theme mode to a darker mode

    • exit : exits the app

    Refer to Section 3, “Features” for more details of each command.

3. Features

Command Format

  1. UPPER_CASE are parameters you should include in use the command

    add q/QUESTION means add q/Why is the earth round.

  2. Items in square brackets are optional

    q/QUESTION [t/TOPIC] means q/Why is the earth round t/Physics

  3. Items with …​ after them can be used optionally or multiple times

    [t/TOPIC] …​ can be t/Physics t/Math t/Literature

  4. Parameters written can be in any order

    q/QUESTION a/ANSWER can be a/ANSWER q/QUESTION

  5. INDEX refers to the index number of the card in the most recently displayed card list

    INDEX must be a positive integer, i.e. 1, 2, 3 …​

3.1. Viewing help : help

Opens a window to our 3VIA User Guide. Format: help

3.2. Adding a card: add

Adds a card to 3VIA
Format: add q/QUESTION a/ANSWER [t/TOPIC]…​

A card can have any number of topics. If there are no topics specified, NoTopic will be assigned to the card.
[t/TOPIC] is case sensitive

Notes

  • 3VIA does not allow duplicated questions.

  • Questions are compared without regards to their case sensitivity. Hence question of "why is…​" is same as "Why is…​".

  • When adding questions and answers, 3VIA will automatically trim the whitespaces that are found in preceding and endings of the text.

Examples:

  • add q/What is the formula for force? a/force = mass * acceleration t/Physics

  • add q/What is the capital of Singapore? a/Singapore t/GeneralKnowledge t/Geography

3.3. Start learning: learn

Will direct you to the learn page with the cards you want to learn. If you want to learn from everything that is available in the deck, simply execute learn. If you want to learn from the cards that are related to a certain topic, simply enter learn TOPIC.
Format: learn [TOPIC]

3.4. Editing a card : edit

Edits an existing card at specified INDEX with updated input values. After the edits are made, the card that was edited will be selected so that you can review the changes made to the card.
Format: edit INDEX [q/QUESTION] [a/ANSWER] [t/TOPIC]…​

  • At least one of the optional fields must be provided.

  • When editing topics, the existing topics of the card will be removed i.e adding of topics is not cumulative.

  • You can set a topic of NoTopic to the card just by typing t/ without specifying any topics after it.

Examples:

  • add q/Why will the apple fall from the tree? a/Because it was ripe!
    edit 1 q/Why will the apple fall from the tree? a/Because of gravity!
    Edits the answer of the 1st card to be Because of gravity!.

  • add q/Why can’t a bicycle stand on its own? a/Two tired. t/Funny edit 2 q/Why did the young mother fall asleep when put her child in bed t/
    Edits the question of the 2nd card to be Why did the young mother fall asleep when put her child in bed? and the card will have a topic of NoTopic.

3.5. Search for cards by question: find

Finds a list of card(s) whose question contain at least one of the given keywords.
Format: find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

  • The search is not case sensitive. e.g why will match Why

  • The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. Why drop will match drop why

  • Only the question is searched.

  • Only full words will be matched e.g. drop will not match droppings

  • Cards matching at least one keyword will be returned. e.g. Why drop will return Why will apple drop?, Why will rain drop?

Examples:

  • find Why
    Returns Why will the apple fall from the tree? and `Why can’t a bicycle stand on its own?`

  • find why what where
    Returns all cards having question why, what, or `where`

3.6. Deleting a card : delete

Deletes the card from the specified INDEX.
Format: delete INDEX

Examples:

  • learn
    delete 2
    Deletes the 2nd displayed card.

  • find Why
    delete 1
    Deletes the 1st card in the results of the find command.

Selects the card identified by the index number used in the displayed card list. Loads the card’s information panel.
Format: select INDEX

Examples:

  • learn
    select 2
    Selects and opens a Card Info Panel for the 2nd displayed card.

  • find Why
    select 1
    Selects and opens a Card Info Panel for the 1st card in the results of the find command.

3.8. Research on a question : research

Loads the Google search page for the question of the identified card. If you are not able to load the Google search page, 3VIA will redirect you to DuckDuckGo’s search engine with the selected question as the search query.
Format: research INDEX

You would need to have an internet connection to load the online search engine. If you are not able to load both the Google’s and DuckDuckGo’s search engine, you will be redirected to a page with an error message.

3.9. Listing entered commands : history

Lists all the commands (which includes the valid and invalid commands), that you have entered from your most recent command.
Format: history

Pressing the ↑ and ↓ arrows will display the previous and next input respectively in the command box.

3.10. Undoing previous command : undo

Restores the app to the state before the previous undoable command was executed.
Format: undo

Undoable commands: those commands that modify the app’s content (add, delete, edit, clear and import).

Examples:

  • delete 1
    undo
    The delete 1 command is reversed

  • select 1
    learn
    undo
    The undo command not executed as there are no undoable commands previously executed.

  • delete 1
    clear
    undo
    The clear command is reversed
    undo
    The delete 1 command is reversed.

  • import C:\Users\username\Desktop\text.txt
    learn
    undo
    The import command is reversed

3.11. Redoing the previously undone command : redo

Reverses the most recent undo command.
Format: redo

Examples:

  • delete 1
    undo
    `delete 1` command is reversed
    redo
    `delete 1` command is reapplied

  • delete 1
    redo
    The redo command was not executed as there are no undo commands previously executed.

  • delete 1
    clear
    undo
    `clear` command is reversed
    undo
    `delete 1` command is reversed
    redo
    `delete 1` command is reapplied
    redo
    `clear` command is reapplied.

  • import C:\Users\username\Desktop\text.txt
    learn
    undo
    `import` command is reversed
    redo
    `import` command is reapplied.

3.12. Clearing all entries : clear

Use with caution! Clears all entries in 3VIA and reboots.

Clear all entries and existing card list(If there exists).
Format: clear

Examples:

  • add q/Why is the earth round? a/Because of gravity t/Physics
    clear
    Card list has been cleared.

  • delete 1
    delete 2
    delete 3
    clear
    No cards to be cleared.

You can type learn to go to learn page, test to go to test page and review to go to review page. But in case you forget, type any of the tab names and you’ll navigate there, as long as you’re not in the middle of a test! No running away from the test you’re doing, you can do this and keep learning! Format: learn, test, review

3.14. Changing the day and night mode of the app: mode

3VIATheme
Figure 1. Day Mode / Light Theme
DarkTheme
Figure 2. Night Mode / Dark Theme

Type mode in any page, or section of the app to switch between the modes to suit your comfort in learning and using 3VIA. Format: mode

3.15. Starting an Open Ended Test: testO

Start an open-ended test of a specified topic. In an open-ended test, the user will key in their answer to the questions, and get the choose whether he/she has answered correctly by comparing their answers with the expected answer.
Format: testO TOPIC

  • The test aims to test the knowledge of the user with the existing questions of a specified topic that are in the trivia application.

The following commands can only be used during an Open Ended Test.

3.15.1. Answering a question:

Type your answer in the command field and press enter to submit your answer. If you don’t have an answer in mind, you can just press enter with nothing in the command field. We accept your silence as an answer.
Format: ANSWER_FROM_USER

3.15.2. Determining the correctness of your answer:

After answering the question, you would be given a comparison between the expected and actual answer you entered. You would be required to determine the correctness of your answer since the questions are open ended. The app will keep track of your score.
Note: Any input that begins with 'Y' or 'N' will be acceptable inputs.
Format: Y (correct) OR N (wrong)

3.15.3. Quit the test:

Test is exited.
Format: exit

3.16. Start a MatchTest: testM

Start a test of matching questions and answers for a specified topic. In a MatchTest, all the questions and answers in that topic will be displayed. You will then have to match all the questions to their respective answer.
Format: testM TOPIC

The navigation tabs will be disabled during the MatchTest. If you want to navigate to other pages, you would need to exit the MatchTest by entering the exit command, as described in the section on Quit MatchTest.

The following commands can only be used during a MatchTest.

3.16.1. Match question and answer:

Will match a pair of question and answer during a MatchTest.
Format: INDEX_OF_QUESTION INDEX_OF_ANSWER

An example is given in the below screenshot, where the command of 2 3 will select the question and answer that is boxed in green.

UserGuideMatchCommand

Another way to match a pair of question and answer is to solely enter the index of the answer. By doing so, we will assume that you would be matching first question to the answer that is specified.
Format: INDEX_OF_ANSWER

An example of such a usage can be seen in the the below screenshot.

UserGuideMatchCommandWithoutQuestion
If you have 2 questions with the same answer, then there will be 2 possibilities in matching 1 of the questions. Also note that answers are case sensitive. Hence the answer of "f = m * a" is not equal to "F = m * A".

3.16.2. Quit MatchTest:

If you want to stop an ongoing MatchTest, you can enter the exit command at any time during the test. The command will bring you to the test menu page.

After the MatchTest has ended, a result page will be shown. After reviewing your results, you can exit from the MatchTest by entering the exit command. The command will bring you to the test menu page.
Format: exit

Only those attempts from a completed MatchTest will be saved into your hard disk.

3.17. View statistics for a certain test or overall learning path: review [coming in v2.0]

Results of previous tests, questions, expected answers and the user’s answers for that particular topic will be displayed.
A summary of testing results will be displayed in review page.

Format: review TOPIC or review or review HL

Example:

review Physics
Displays the overall statistics of questions attempted of Physics.

review
Displays the overall statistics of all questions attempted.

review HL
Displays card list sorted by high to low times of mistakes

3.18. Cram More Knowledge!: import

Quickly import multiple flash cards from existing notes or documents into 3VIA.

Format: import FILEPATH

Example:

  • import C:\Users\username\Desktop\file.txt
    Imports the contents from the file.txt text file from the specified file location on Windows.

  • import file.txt
    Imports the contents from the file.txt text file relative to the location of the 3VIA application.

The file path refers to either the absolute file path or the relative file path of the import file.

3.18.1. Creating your import file:

Open your existing notes or create a new one. You may use any text editing programs such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, etc. Below are 2 rules regarding the import file type and format that must be adhered too.

  1. Import file type:

    • The file must be in UTF-8 format.

    • The file must be a plain text file (i.e. file.txt).

  1. Import file format:

import file format pic
Formating explaination
Keys Purpose

SPACE + t + /

A space and "t/" prefix separates each topic

TAB

A tab space separates a question and an answer

⏎

A new line separates each card
Duplicate questions in the import text file will result in an import failure. Duplicated answers with different questions are allowed.

3.18.2. Importing your file:

Now that your file is ready, head over to 3VIA and lets begin the import.

  1. Enter the import command followed by the absolute/ relative file path of the import file you previously created in the command box as seen below.

    import step 1 pic

  1. Hit enter/ return to confirm. 3VIA will now display a list of cards that has been imported.

    import step 2 pic
You can edit or delete any of the recently imported cards and/or even undo the import if you are not satisfied with the cards imported.

3.19. Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.
Format: exit

If the exit Command is used during in any of the testing mode, it will bring you to the test menu page instead of exiting from the programme. If you want to exit from the program, execute the exit command again.

3.20. Saving data

3VIA saves data in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data.
There is no need to save manually.

4. 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 3VIA application folder.

5. Command Summary

5.1. Non-page Dependent Commands

NonPageDependent
Figure 3. Non-page dependent Commands
NavigationCommands
Figure 4. Navigation Commands

5.3. Learn Commands

  • Learn : learn [TOPIC]

  • Mass Import : import FILEPATH

  • Add add q/QUESTION a/ANSWER [t/TOPIC]…​
    e.g. add q/What is the formula for force? a/force = mass * acceleration t/Physics

  • Clear : clear

  • Delete : delete INDEX
    e.g. delete 3

  • Edit : edit INDEX [q/QUESTION] [a/ANSWER] [t/TOPIC]…​
    e.g. edit 1 q/Why will the apple fall from the tree? a/Because of gravity!

  • Find : find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
    e.g. find Why

  • Select : select INDEX
    e.g.select 2

  • Research : research INDEX

  • History : history

  • Undo : undo

  • Redo : redo

5.4. Test Commands

  • Open Ended Test : testO TOPIC

    • Input the answer : YOUR_ANSWER

    • Correctness of answer : Y (correct) OR N (wrong)

    • Exit from OpenEndedTest : exit

  • MatchTest : testM TOPIC

    • Match question to its answer : INDEX_OF_QUESTION INDEX_OF_ANSWER or INDEX_OF_ANSWER

  • History : history

5.5. Review Commands

  • History : history