Projects

Microsoft Access Applications

Access is a relational database from Microsoft that allows for both database design and application programing.  You can create a fully functional program including data storage and a professional user interface without using any other tools.  One of Access' main strengths is its report generator.  I have yet to find another report generator that is as flexible and easy to use.  

To date I have been involved in the programming of over 30 Access database applications, most of which where I was the primary or only programmer.  Here is a short list of some of the Access programs I have developed:

• Forest Object Database - by far the largest single Access program I have written.  It allows a forestry company to keep track of a given section of land.   Within that land, it will track the cut blocks, roads, and bridges as well as the permits, costs and potential revenue from that land.  It was programmed for a British Columbia forest company and is used in six of their forest regions.
• Production Statistics - this is the name for a group of Access programs used in a Manitoba Paper Mill. Various departments around the mill have their own Access database to keep track of their data.  This data is all collected into a central application that tracks the production of the mill.  They use these programs both to track production and for quality control.  With all of the data collected around the mill, they know the state of the mill on any given day.  They can compare this information with their production data to ascertain what conditions in the mill produce the best paper at the lowest cost.
• Waste Paper Inventory - inventory tracking for a recycling plant
• Accident Book - database to track first aid incidents in a pulp mill
• Furniture Design - database to store specifics of various types of furniture for a Surrey based furniture manufacturer.
• First Nations Database - (Power Point Presentation)

Visual Basic Applications

Most of the Visual Basic applications I have programmed have been interface applications.  They interface with some type of industrial machinery, usually through a Comm port and either help direct the machinery or simply record information.  Some examples are:

• Kajanni Paperlab Interface - records data from a paper testing machine
• Weigh Scale Interface - interfaced to a chip truck dumper to record weights
• Forklift Interface - a program to record data from a forklift operator in a warehouse using remote keypads, barcode scanners, and a radio network.

Web Applications

I have developed numerous web applications.  They range in size from small web sites such as a yacht entry form for a regatta, to a large scale web application for art galleries.  They are dynamic web sites, such that the user can manipulate data on the site.  The data is contained in a database on the web server. 

Often, the application is a conversion from an MS Access application.  Converting the application to a web application allows many users to access the program without the need of installing MS Access on all the workstations.  If a corporation has an Intranet, then this is often the best choice for internal applications.  Since most computers today have a web browser installed, a workstation requires little or no configuration to access a web application.

Here is a short list of the web applications I have developed:

• Intranet application to keep track of employee and project costs
• Intranet application for inventory control
• Race entry form for a regatta web site
• Dynamic web page as a source for an Excel pivot report
• Theo Digital Gallery - click for more info
• PDF Report Generator - click for more info 
• Classic Gallery Framing - online catalog of framing components