View on GitHub

tp

PlanNUS helps NUS undergraduates plan their academic journey in NUS. It is optimized for CLI users as commands can be typed in faster by undergraduates.

User Guide for PlanNUS

Hello user of PlanNUS! Welcome to the user guide for our software. In this guide, you can find information regarding how to use PlanNUS and the common questions asked with regards to the usage of PlanNUS. We hope you find this software useful and we wish you all the best for your academic journey in NUS.


1. Overview

PlanNUS is a desktop application for undergraduates who wish to plan their academic journey, with modules offered by National University of Singapore (NUS). The Command Line Interface (CLI) will be required for the program to work.

PlanNUS aims to address the gap of undergraduate academic planning in NUS, by providing an avenue for NUS students to plan their full academic journey. PlanNUS can also generate CAP statistics and even suggest which modules to mark as satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U), in order to achieve the highest CAP possible.

In addition, PlanNUS has saving and loading features, which reduces the hassle of re-entering the full academic calendar during each use.

The sections below explain how PlanNUS should be used, and the common errors faced by users. Sections can be easily navigated to by clicking on the hyperlinks in the table of contents.


2. Table of contents


3. Quick Start

  1. Ensure that you have Java 11 or above installed.
  2. Download the latest version of PlanNUS here.
  3. Double click on PlanNUS.jar to start up the program.
  4. If the previous step does not work, open up the command prompt.
  5. Go to the directory where the jar file is saved.
  6. Enter the following command java -jar PlanNus.jar

Back to Table of Contents


4. Feature List (for V2.1)

Back to Table of Contents


5. Command Summary

Note: All commands are case-insensitive.


To enter the Academic Planner: acadplan or a

Commands within the Academic Planner:

Action Command
Adding a module into the calendar add <module code>​
e.g., add CS1010, ADD cs1231 , ADD CS2040
Editing an existing module in the calendar edit <module code>​
e.g., edit CS1010, EDIT cs1231 , EDIT CS2040
Removing an existing module in the calendar remove <module code>​
e.g., remove CS1010, REMOVE cs1231 , REMOVE CS2040
Viewing the details of a module details <module code>
e.g. details CS1010, DETAILS cs1231, DETAILS CS2040
Searching for modules by keyword search <module code key
e.g. search CS, SEARCH cs12, SEARCH CS2040
Printing the academic calendar view
Printing help information for Academic Planner help
Switching to the CAP Calculator app capcalc
Exiting the Academic Planner exit

Back to Table of Contents


To enter the CAP Calculator: capcalc or c

Commands within the CAP calculator:

Action Command
Printing current CAP and MCs taken current
Setting target CAP set target
Marking a module grade as S/U set su
Printing help information for CAP Calculator help
Switching to the Academic Planner app acadplan
Exiting the CAP Calculator exit

Note: capcalc can be called from both the PlanNUS main menu, and from within the Academic Planner app.

Back to Table of Contents


6. Features

From the PlanNUS main page, you can choose to enter two separate apps:

  1. Academic Calendar Planner - have an outlook of your potential academic journey.
  2. CAP Calculator - calculate and forecast your CAP.

For each of these commands, there are more specific functions for the configuration of your desired choices.

Back to Table of Contents


6.1. Academic Calendar Planner: acadplan or a

Directs you to the Academic Planner app, where you can plan a personalized academic journey in NUS by using add, remove, view or edit features as shown below. Note: You can choose to switch to the Academic Planner app from within the CAP Calculator app or the PlanNUS main menu.

Input format: acadplan or a

Back to Table of Contents


6.1.1. Adding a module into the calendar: add

The following command is for you to add in a new module entry to your academic calendar.

Input format: add <module code>

Example of proper usage:

Upon entering the add command with the module code, you will be prompted to enter two additional fields of information: the semester you wish to take the module, and the corresponding grade attained.

Caution:

Back to Table of Contents


6.1.2. Editing an existing module in the calendar: edit

This edit command is for you to edit an existing module entry.

Input format: edit <module code>

Example of usage:

As shown in the images below, you can choose to edit either the Semester or Grade of the selected module. (Note: Enter either 1 or 2 instead of the component’s name)

Expected output when you wish to change the Semester.

Expected output when you wish to change the Grade.

Caution:

Back to Table of Contents


6.1.3. Removing an existing module in the calendar: remove

This function removes an existing module entry from your academic calendar.

Input format: remove <module code>

Example of usage:

Caution:

Back to Table of Contents


6.1.4. Viewing the details of a module: details

This command is for you to view the detailed information of a particular module.

Input format: details <module code>

Example of usage:

As shown in the image, you can input the module that they wish to view further details about.

Caution:

Back to Table of Contents


This command is for when you are unsure of the full module code.

Input format: search <module code key>

Example of usage:

As shown above, you can enter a search key that contains either part of, or the whole module code.

Caution:

Back to Table of Contents


6.1.6. Printing the academic calendar: view

This command is for when you want to view your academic calendar, in partial or in full.

Input format: view

You can choose from printing the full calendar by typing full or printing a specific semester by typing a number from 1-10, inclusive.

Expected output when you wish to print the full calendar:

Expected output when you wish to print a specific semester:

Back to Table of Contents


6.1.7. Printing help for academic calendar: help

This command is for when you are unsure of what commands are available in acadplan.

Input format: help

Back to Table of Contents


6.1.8. Switching to the CAP Calculator app: capcalc

This command is for you to switch to the CAP Calculator app.

Input format: capcalc

Note: You can also choose to switch to the CAP Calculator_ app from the PlanNUS main menu.

Back to Table of Contents


6.2. Cap Calculator: capcalc

Directs you to the CAP Calculator app where he/she can view the current CAP or even set target CAP to be met in the upcoming semester(s) from Main Menu.

Input format: capcalc or c

Back to Table of Contents


6.2.1. Printing current CAP and MCs taken: current

This command shows you your current CAP, Current Graded MCs and Total number of MCs taken.

Input format: current

Caution:

Back to Table of Contents


6.2.2. Set target CAP: set target

This command is for you to set a target CAP that you wish to obtain for the next specified graded MCs.

Input format: set target

Caution:

Back to Table of Contents


6.2.3. Set S/U modules: set su

This command is for you to set modules that you wish to S/U.

As shown in the image, you can choose to S/U by either a Semester or some selected Modules. (Note: Enter either 1 or 2 instead of the component’s name)


6.2.3.1. Set S/U by semester

Below shows the expected output when you wish to S/U by Semester.

You will be prompted to enter a specific semester that you wish to S/U. The following will show if the entered Semester is valid.

You will be first shown the S/U list which consists of a sorted list of valid modules according to your grades and your current CAP and graded MCs.

Caution:

Modules will be S/Ued starting from the lowest grade and will be displayed with the corresponding updated CAP. You will also be shown the highest possible CAP that you can obtain.

Lastly, you will be shown the modules that you should S/U in order to obtain the highest CAP possible.

Back to Table of Contents


6.2.3.2. Set S/U by modules

Below shows the expected output when you wish to S/U by Modules.

You will be prompted to enter a specific number of modules to S/U and the module codes to be S/Ued. The following will show if the all the fields are valid.

You will be shown the S/U list which consists of a sorted list of valid modules according to your grades and your current CAP and graded MCs.

Caution:

Modules will be S/Ued starting from the lowest grade and will be displayed with the corresponding updated CAP. You will also be shown the highest possible CAP that you can obtain.

Lastly, you will be shown the modules that you should S/U in order to obtain the highest CAP possible.

Back to Table of Contents


6.2.4. Printing help for CAP Calculator: help

This command is for when you are unsure of what commands are available in capcalc.

Input format: help

Back to Table of Contents


6.2.5. Switching to the Academic Planner app: acadplan

This command is for you to switch to the Academic Planner app.

Input format: acadplan

Note: You can also choose to switch to the Academic Planner app from the PlanNUS main menu.

Back to Table of Contents


6.3. Exiting from a feature or PlanNUS: exit

This command directs you back to the main page of PlanNUS after you are done using a feature, or wish to exit from the entire software itself.

Input format: exit

When you exit from the Academic Planner, expected output is as follows:

When you exit from the CAP calculator, expected output is as follows:

Last but not least, the expected output when you exit from PlanNUS is as follows:

Back to Table of Contents

7. Loading and Saving

Upon running PlanNUS in the command prompt, the program automatically looks for a text file with the name PlanNUS.txt within the same folder as PlanNUS.jar.

If the text file cannot be found, then the following output will be shown on the main page of PlanNUS, before the list of commands.

If an empty save file exists, the following output will be displayed instead.

All the added modules will be saved into PlanNUS.txt after you exit from the program. The next time the program is run again, it will load the previously saved configurations, and will generate the following output.

Note that the image above is merely an example, since the exact output depends on the number of modules saved in the text file.

Back to Table of Contents


8. FAQ

Question Type Question Answer
General How do I check which modules are offered by NUS? For more info on which modules are offered by NUS, visit here.
General What is a valid semester index? For the purpose of this planning software, we have come to a decision to limit the maximum number of semesters an undergraduate can take to 10, which is 5 academic years. The notation they are represented by is by an integer of value 1 to 10. For a fresh undergraduate, they will begin at semester index of 1. For a year 3 student who is currently in semester 1, the semester index will be 5. Please refer to the appendix for more information.
General What is a valid grade? Letter Grades: A+, A, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D+, D, F , Special Grades: CS, CU, S, U, W, IC, IP, AUD, WU, EXE, If you have yet to obtain a grade for the module: NT
General What is the name of the saved file? The name of the saved file is PlanNUS.txt and can be found at the base of the folder, in the same location as your PlanNUS.jar.

Back to Table of Contents


Back to Table of Contents


10. Appendix

10.1. Naming convention for semester indexes

For the purpose of this planning software, PlanNUS limits the maximum number of semesters an undergraduate can take to 10, which is equivalent to 5 academic years. Each semester is indexed by an integer between 1 and 10. If you are a fresh undergraduate, you will begin at semester index of 1. For a year 3 student who is currently in semester 1, your semester index will be 5. Below is a table which illustrates the corresponding semester indexes for undergraduates:

Academic Year Semester (as of Academic Year) Semester Index
1 1 1
1 2 2
2 1 3
2 2 4
3 1 5
3 2 6
4 1 7
4 2 8
5 1 9
5 2 10

Back to Table of Contents


10.2. Grade values

As per NUS Grade Policy, letter grades will have a corresponding Academic Point attached to them. Special cases such as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (SU) grades can be captured by our software as well. Below is a table of grades and their corresponding grade value. Do note that the grades of forecasted modules should be declared as NT, short for Not Taken.

Grade Academic Points
A+ 5.0
A 5.0
A- 4.5
B+ 4.0
B 3.5
B- 3.0
C+ 2.5
C 2.0
D+ 1.5
D 1.0
F 0.0
Additional Grading Options* -

*Additional Grading options include S,U,CS,CU,IC,IP,AUD,EXE,W,WU. They hold no Academic Point Value.

Back to Table of Contents


11. Features Coming Soon (V3.0 and beyond)

Back to Table of Contents


End of User Guide