Portfolio
This is a small sample of my work, other examples can be provided on request.
WPF application for the Priory Group.
My latest project is a Staff Management tool written in C# for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). 
The
main focus of this project was to save management time by automating some of the
more time consuming and error prone tasks.
The business layer was generated using LLBL Gen Pro and so consequently, I used Linq to LLBL
Gen Pro to query the generated entities.
Key to it's success, is the 'Monthy Rota' which is an automated scheduling system.
Upon loading, staff names are displayed in the left hand column, with any
pre-booked time-off visible in the calendar to its right. The manager allocates
work days in almost a mirror of a paper based version.
The difference being, however, that behind the scenes a complex business rules
engine is monitoring any changes. When a scheduled work day violates any rules,
a Traffic Light system alerts the manager with either a Red or Amber light.
Website for The Post Office
The Guaranteed Capital Bond website, is a website with a twist. After several screens of data collection, the user clicks on a
Print button and is presented with a completed PDF. This dynamic population of an existing PDF template used the O2 Solutions PDF component,
but during the build, I tested several other PDF solutions including those from Persits Software.
As well as overlaying form data onto a PDF template, the site had to print a barcode which was auto-generated in code. This allowed the PDF forms, when printed, to be scanned by
a Post Office terminal and recognised as a valid and unique document.
View the website
Google Mapping WebService for The Post Office
The Post office asked me to create a Branch Finder Web Application with the ability to plot driving directions between the users home postcode and their nearest Post Office Branch. The project was a short-term 'proof of concept' task that used the Google Maps API.
The application drew its data from a Web Service database which I created in SQL Server 2008. The database stored details on opening times and a list of facilities at each Post Office Branch. The application then was able to route customers to the nearest outlet that matched the facilities the customer was looking for.
The application was demonstrated to management and formed the basis for the final version which was deployed to the Post Office Portal a few months later.
When the finished product was built it used MultipMap instead, as the Google Geodecoder isn't as accurate as rival geodecoders.
Multimedia Kiosk for the Co-op
I got a call in August from QCL Solutions who were the country's leading
supplier of touch screen systems and multimedia kiosks. They wanted me to
build 2 multimedia kiosk sites for one of their major customers (the
Co-op). The sites were to sell alcohol and electronic equipment to
customers at Co-op retail outlets and would accept credit card payments, with
the actual order details stored in a SQL Server database held at Logica in
London.
There was 6 individual XML feeds from Logica and I decided to
utilise .Net to build the body of the sites as it has excellent XML support,
plus, by creating user controls, QCL would get reuseable code for future
projects. This fitted in with their overall company goal of becoming more code efficient.
Because of the limitations of using touchscreen
systems, I had to hand write a lot of code to do some of the more mundane
tasks like scrolling and paging. I also had to create a
Shopping Cart component and integrate with QCL's WebShop Player software.
The sites captured customers orders and passed them to Logica in XML, then
received status messages and data back from Logica in XML format. This was
handled using the WebRequest and WebResponse classes, with a card reader
capturing customers credit card details.
The shopping cart had to be able to present a view of the
products and allow them to add or remove items. The complications here was that
special discounts had to be increased or decreased depending on the number
ordered and the discount rules applied.
I worked closely with a QCL Web Designer to incorporate several Flash
movies in to the site as variables were passed to and from movies. This was
achieved by utilising the AiXtend Flash Inside ActiveX control.
Several weeks later I was commissioned to write the second Co-op
shopping site to sell electrical goods, this had to blend seamlessly with the
first site as it was to be run locally from the same kiosk server. All in all
10 kiosks were sucessfully built and dispatched to the customer.
