After completing my bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, I began working for Quetzal Consulting as programmer, enjoying the peak of the dot-com boom. This was an exciting time!
I worked on many projects, and I loved to help customers find new ways of solving their business problems. I started as a FileMaker developer, but I quickly learned to develop web-based solutions using WebObjects, Java, Oracle, and Solaris.
MedicalHost’s primary product, Marvin, was a call center management solution for pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide consumers and health care professionals with accurate information concerning their products. The system facilitated recording and responding to requests for medical information. I was one of several WebObjects developers. Being new on the team, I was to support the lead developers by correcting bugs and adding minor features. It was a great way to learn the software and immediately add value to the team.
This WebObjects application helped Tonic 360 to find the lowest bid per impression for various advertising campaigns that they ran. The program managed these campaigns, the participants and their bids. After the campaign had been created and participants had been added to the campaign, Tonic 360 staff could easily send a personalized invitation to all the participants. This invitation included a hyperlink for the participant to join the auction, place bids and see the lowest bid in dollars per thousand impressions. The program included several reports to help decide the winning participants and many other features. I was the sole developer for this project.
This solution tracked customers, orders, deliveries, online sales, payments, produce supply, and customer relations for the Bay Area Organic Express. The web-based portion showed the current supply of produce, allowed visitors to become members, and maintained customer profiles including produce preferences, delivery schedules and custom orders. The client/server piece was used to maintain delivery routes, generate assembly instructions, control available supply, enter payment information, bill clients, validate account changes before they become effective, and track account changes. I was one of the principal developers. I wrote the majority of the client/server interface using FileMaker and the web interface with Lasso. Other developers supported web design and credit card processing. This was my first project incorporating the Extreme Programming elements relating to customer interaction, and it proved very successful.
This client-server solution managed the Incyte Genomics’ primer walk and shotgun processes which occur prior to the sequencing of DNA. The two major parts of this solution were a complete freezer inventory management system and a flexible meta-data model for the actual process after the clones were reracked. This solution included many complex procedures and highly customized interfaces specific to each process. I was one of several developers to support this FileMaker project, but I earned a reputation as a super hero for swooping in and saving the day at a time when this project was running behind schedule and over budget.
This customer had a legacy system using a combination of Claris Dynamic Markup Language (CDML). My assignment was to improve the performance of the system by changing the system from CDML to Lasso.
The web interface of this solution allowed the public to search for consultants and solutions directly from the FileMaker, Inc. web site. It also permitted Solutions Alliance members to apply for membership and control their membership information through a private web interface. Prior to being viewable on the public web site, changes were passed by a ‘one-click’ approval mechanism. I was one of several developers on this project and was primarily responsible for the web interface. While I was at the FileMaker headquarters, I took the FSA written test on behalf of Quetzal Consulting as part of our membership requirements, and I aced it.
Pyramid Printing & Graphics requested we build a system to collect printing requirements via the web, verify the order by displaying a custom preview to the customer, and provide real-time order status tracking. The custom preview was generated from FileMaker Pro’s Web Companion via FileMaker scripts, Apple Events and QuarkXPress. A similar procedure was later used to generate typesets for each order. The way in which this was done gave Pyramid astounding adaptability to generate custom templates. For each order they typeset, a tracking sheet was generated and a barcode scanner was used to quickly track the order progress after printing and shipping. Once a company’s orders had been shipped, it generated one invoice per cost center. I was the sole developer on this project and developed it while I was still in school.
Neo, sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.Morpheus in The Matrix (1999)