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Career Profile (most recent works are listed first) |
My Directory Perl web application |
|
| Period | Jun - Sept 1999 |
| Client | |
| Description | It is an expanded Perl port of the My
Directory ASP web application (a web application for storing internet
bookmarks, see next project). I wanted to upload to the Internet a demo of
the ASP application but I couldn't find a Web hosting service supporting
ASP and databases for free, so I decided it was a perfect justification to
learn Perl. At the same time it allowed to install the software at any
Unix box also. I decided not to use a database engine so I programmed low
level data storage and retrieving routines. The development was initiated
at an NT machine running Active Perl and Internet Information Server, but
initial Unix tests suffered from compatibility problems so I switched to a
FreeBSD box running Apache.
By July I knew from the PC Magazine editor's column there was a new web site (www.bookmarksplus.com) offering a similar service so I decided expand the initial idea. A fully functional demo is available at http://mydirectory.virtualave.net. |
| Server Platform | Unix, Windows NT |
| Client Platform | Any browser |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | Any |
My Directory ASP web application |
|
| Period | Apr - Jun 1999 |
| Client | |
| Description | The initial idea was to create a web
application for storing internet bookmarks. This app could be installed on
the web and create a new web service. The goals where: accessible from any
browser (no javascript, no cookies), an easy to use interface, private
access to data, flexible bookmark organization through a tree - like
folder system. I used the directory engine developed for the Software
Directory intranet application, so I used VBScripting and SQL Server
on the server side and avoided the use of client side scripting. I was
looking for a free Web Hosting service to upload a demo but I failed to
find one with ASP and database support. I decided to make a port to Perl
without database usage.
By July I knew from the PC Magazine editor's column there was a new web site (www.bookmarksplus.com) offering a similar service so I decided expand the initial idea. |
| Server Platform | Windows NT |
| Client Platform | Any browser |
| Software |
|
| Hardware | PCs on the server side, any at the client side |
DAsp.Inet ActiveX server component for Internet access |
|
| Period | Feb - Mar 1999 |
| Client | For self study, potentially for shareware community. |
| Description | When developing the previous project, I was in need of a free ASP capable component capable of performing FTP file handling. I found a free stuff, but it lagged in capabilities. Then I decided to encapsulate the Wininet API recently released by Microsoft, inside an ASP capable component. I decided to use this project to learn ATL(Active Template Library) programming using Visual C++ 5, 6. I encapsulated Wininet API in a light shell that closely resembles the original API, but implements a fully object-oriented look and feel. In learning ASP I relayed on the book "Inside OLE", MSDN documentation and the news forum microsoft.public.vc.activex.templatelib at msnews.microsoft.com because of the lack of an introductory book on ATL specifics. |
| Platform | Windows NT/95/98 |
| Software |
|
| Hardware | PC |
Software Directory intranet application |
|
| Period | Dec 1998 - Jan 1999 |
| Client | A Microsoft Business Partner company from Chile |
| Description | It was needed a software for ease and flexible handling of software distribution inside the client intranet, including uploading the software and replication to multiple file servers, searching capabilities for the end user, automatic selection of the shortest path to replicated software, access control. I designed and developed an ASP application that fulfills the requirements. I think this application can become with no too much effort into a tool for administering large download sites in Internet. |
| Server Platform | Windows NT 4, Unix |
| Client Platform | Any with a java script capable browser |
| Server Software |
|
| Client Software | Java scripting |
| Hardware | |
Meteorological Communications System |
|
| Period | Sept - Nov 1998 |
| Client | Institute of Meteorology |
| Description | It was necessary to substitute the manual telex communications system in the national weather service, with an automated system, based over the X.25 national network. We worked in a team of two. A colleague was responsible for hardware configuration. I was responsible for the analysis, design and implementation of software for conducting communications with X.29 remote terminals. For doing that I should learn Korn shell programming. |
| Platform | AIX 3.2 |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | IBM RISC System 6000 |
Personal Mailing List Server |
|
| Period | Summer 1998. Stopped at design stage. |
| Client | Shareware community |
| Description | I worked at the design of a mailing list application to be used from a MAPI client. It is code named PML for Personal Mailing List and is a personal project. It will allow anyone with an e-mail account and a MAPI-compliant e-mail client to host as many mailing lists as needed, without the need to use any dedicated server. The idea grew up from the necessity to provide support to the HTTP2mail users. |
| Platform | Windows 95 |
| Software |
|
| Hardware | PC |
Auctions web application |
|
| Period | Jul - Aug 1998 |
| Client | Local ISP provider |
| Description | I analyzed, designed and implemented a web application for conducting auctions. It was made in response to the needs of a local Internet web-hosting provider expanding toward e-commerce. The application allows the remote administration and free registering and participation of bidders through the Internet. Payments are allowed in secure way by using the Internet Secure (www.internetsecure.com) web site. Application was developed using ASP technology, with usage of Visual Basic script on the server side, and JavaScript on the client side. Microsoft Access acts as the back-end database with the possibility of scaling to SQL Server. |
| Platform | Windows 95, NT |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
HTTP2mail proxy server |
|
| Period | Jan - May 1998 |
| Client | (Freeware available at ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/webbrows/h2m20.zip) |
| Description | It's a personal project developed after hours. It's an HTTP proxy server that reroutes HTTP calls through e-mail towards the publicly available web mail robots (Agora, GetWeb, and W3Mail), and caches responses. The purpose is to give users with e-mail only access to the Internet, a way to surf the web with a standard browser. It works as follows: By configuring your web browser to access the proxy, the request is sent to the proxy. From a list of possible web robots, the proxy selects one. Using MAPI sends the response to the web robot, and answers to the request with a standard HTTP 404 Not found error, but notifies the user about the success of the request routing through the gateway. The proxy is constantly polling the MAPI client looking for responses from the web robots. When it finds one, it caches the served page on a Microsoft Access database. Next time a browser asks for that URL, the proxy serves the cached page. It provides users a much-improved interface to the Web, compared to the interfaces that offers Agora, GetWeb or W3Mail services, and will be especially useful for accessing search engines. I modified the Visual C++ source code of a Web server, adding database capabilities (through DAO) for caching, and MAPI for interaction with the e-mail client. HTTP2mail was announced at the ACCMAIL (LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM) and HELP-NET (LISTSERV@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU) mailing lists on May 6-7 of 1998, and is available as a freeware from ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/webbrows/h2m20.zip ftp site. |
| OS | Windows 95 |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
" Information Processing System of Sime" (IPSS) Project |
|
| Period | Early 1996 - Sept 1998 |
| Client | Sime |
| Description | Sime is the Organization that coordinates the national policy on information technology (IT).
I was involved in this mega-project since its very early stages, from
analysis, design, development to manteinance.
I started working for EICISOFT, a subcontractor of the project. Then moved to DISAIC-EDISIME, the main IT services provider for that Organization. It follows a description of my duties in that project. |
Database administration and maintenance management for the IPSS project |
|
| Period | Dec 1997 - Sept 1998 |
| Client | Sime |
| Description | I was in charge for the administration of the database and coordinate the maintenance work of the approx. 50 applications
for the project IPSS recently created for SIME. I also made maintenance work for the web applications developed for the system. It was my first non-programmer charge. Although it was not a challenging job, the office was better arranged for Intranet development and the Intranet topic was put in perspective.
I made some feasibility studies on migrating the existing FoxPro database
to SQL Server. This post provided me with Internet access through e-mail.
Finally my expectations were not fulfilled and I left the job. |
| OS | Windows 95, NT |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
SIME Direction of Exports' web application (IPSS project) |
|
| Period | 1997 |
| Client | Sime |
| Description | I was in charge for the development of Web applications for the Direction of Exports of the Sime Organization. Another colleague was subordinated to me, working on documentation and help system. This time was available a new generation of Microsoft's web development tools. Then I used Active Server Pages technology from the Internet Information Server. As the development tool I used Microsoft Visual InterDev 1.0. Code on both client and server sides of the applications were written in Visual Basic script. |
| OS | Windows 95, NT |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
Maintenance and development of Web applications (IPSS project) |
|
| Period | 1997 |
| Client | Sime |
| Description | During acceptance tests of web applications (project IPSS) arisen some incompatibilities problems between the Internet Information Server and the Microsoft Visual FoxPro 5.0 database used for data storage. I was responsible for the solution of that problem. I lead a team of 6 persons, including network administrators and developers, and conducted extensive hardware and software testing. We concluded that the problem was caused by incompatibilities at the ODBC middleware level between Internet Information Server and Visual FoxPro database. We decided to elude that problem by creating a partial replica database in Microsoft Access with the data needed by the Web applications. That temporal solution gave us time to look for an improved version of the software. I developed the software for two-way synchronization between the main and the replica database. For that I used Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 and Microsoft Access 97. It was also necessary to do some maintenance to the applications of the Direction of Science and Technique, specifically because some incompatibilities between the Access and Visual FoxPro implementations of the SQL language. For that I used Visual InterDev 1.0 and Internet Explorer Debugger. It was necessary to deal with Java Script code used in those applications. |
| OS | Windows NT |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
|
From Oct 96 to Mar 97 I was attending the international course Unix Database System Designer, at Okinawa International Centre - Japan
|
|
Demo for supporting the suitability of the middleware Internet Database Connector (IDC) for the implementation of some database-intensive applications (IPSS project) |
|
| Period | Summer 1996 |
| Client | Sime |
| Description | My colleague and I made a public demonstration of the abilities of the combination Internet Information Server - IDC - Internet Explorer as server - middleware - client combination for the rapid application development of some modules of the Information System in development. The demo was developed using Microsoft ActiveX technology with Visual Basic scripting on the client side, and SQL and IDC instructions on the server side. Microsoft FrontPage 1.0 was used for helping in editing HTML code. Microsoft Access 7 was used for data storage. As result, those tools were approved for usage in the implementation of the IPSS project. That technology was successfully used in the development of some applications. |
| OS | Windows 95, NT |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
IPSS project. Analysis and Design stage. |
|
| Period | Spring 1996 |
| Client | SIME |
| Description | EICISOFT (my employer) was contracted to conduct part of the analysis and design in the effort to provide the Sime Organization with a state of the art information processing system. I was part of the team of analysts. I was in charge for conducting the analysis and the design at the Direction of Science and Technique of the Organization. It was used the structured approach. The work was successfully concluded. The appropriate documentation was released. |
| OS | |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | |
Reengineering and administration of the local area network for EICISOFT |
|
| Period | 1996-1997 |
| Client | EICISOFT |
| Description | It was presented a design proposal done by a team of two. It was the year of the Intranet's boom. The goal was to improve the firm's LAN from a file sharing usage to a full-featured Intranet, offering a wide range of services to improve the responsiveness of the firm to our client needs, and gain a competitive edge by using the new technology. I was in charge for the Applications section of the proposal. The hardware part of the proposal was refused because lack of money. That put the entire project in crisis. All the ways we volunteered to take in our hands the administration of the LAN as an extra job, simultaneously to our main task as Programmers/Analysts. By that time we only had an old PC running Novell NetWare 3.11 as a file server. We could find modules for running WWW and FTP services. It was the start. Later we could install Windows NT 4 and start to investigate in the possibilities that offers an Internet Information Server based Intranet for new approaches to the solution of business needs. That lead us to start the development of one of the first IIS web application in the country by the end of that year (1996) for the IPSS project. In 1997 I also set up a Linux server as a mail gateway SMTP - UUCP for mail exchange. |
| OS | |
| Software used | |
| Hardware | |
Installation tracking system. |
|
| Period | 1996 |
| Client | |
| Description | It was a personal project to detect registry and file system changes caused by Windows 95/NT software installations. It was mainly developed to demonstrate the power of SQL language to handle a wide range of problems. The system looks very similar to the popular shareware program InControl published by PC Magazine. The difference lies in that I use SQL language to analyze the differences in the file system and registry status before and after the installation of any software. Microsoft Visual C++ 4.2 was used to develop the front-end application, in charge for collecting file system and registry information. Microsoft ODBC 2.0 API was used to store that information in a database. Microsoft Access 7.0 was used to store the data and run the SQL queries. The system works pretty good. |
| OS | Windows 95/NT |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
CIPRES project. Revised and expanded version of the SGPP (Personal and Project Management) project. |
|
| Period | 1995 |
| Client | DAESA(Spain), IECISA(Spain) |
| Description | Like the SGPP system (see below), it was developed under a contract with the Spanish firm DAESA for the Spanish firm Informatica El Corte Ingles S.A. (IECISA). This time also DAESA was in charge for the analysis and maintenance. EICISOFT in turn was in charge for the design and implementation stages. The same team made the work. I was responsible for the design and programming of part of the system. The system was developed using Microsoft VisualBasic 3.0, Microsoft Access 2.0, Crystal Reports and extensive usage of SQL language. Also I acted as the documentor of the team, managing the source code this time with the help of Microsoft Source Safe tool. The system was also sanctioned by IECISA. |
| OS | Windows 3.x |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
C++ library for automatic cephalometry |
|
| Period | 1995 |
| Client | "Hermanos Ameijeiras" Hospital |
| Description | I designed and implemented a C++ class library that contains visual objects (points, lines, segments) to be used interactively by an specialist that could draw it over X-rays or visual images in order to obtain meaningful measures of the image. It was specially designed to measure angles, distances, aspect ratio, and other parameters related to cephalometry. The library was developed with Microsoft Visual C++ 1.5 and Microsoft Foundation Class 2.5. The library was part of a project that was frozen because lack of funds. |
| OS | Windows 3.x |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
Personal and Project Management System (SGPP) project |
|
| Period | 1994 |
| Client | DAESA(Spain), IECISA(Spain) |
| Description | That system was developed under a contract with the Spanish firm DAESA for the Spanish firm Informatica El Corte Ingles S.A. (IECISA). DAESA was in charge for the analysis and maintenance. EICISOFT was in charge for the design and implementation stages. For doing this it was created a 5-person team. I was responsible for the design and programming of part of the system. The system was developed using Microsoft VisualBasic 3.0, Microsoft Access 1.0, Crystal Reports and extensive usage of SQL language. Also I acted as the documentor of the team, managing the source code. The system was sanctioned by IECISA. |
| OS | Windows 3.x |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | |
Meteorological Information System (MIS) |
|
| Period | 1992 - 1994 |
| Client | Institute of Meteorology |
| Description | Analysis, design and development of a GIS software for automated plotting and analysis of meteorological data in the National Meteorological Center. The project started by my own initiative. The primary goals were substitute the manual plotting, and help the specialist in the analysis (isoline drawing) of the meteorological charts. But I was thinking in the integration of all kind of meteorological data, including satellite and radar images, in one workstation for enhancing the support of the meteorological specialist in the decision making process. The system was developed for Windows 3.1 using
Borland C++ 3.1, Borland's Object Window Library 1.0 as Windows API wrapper, and
CodeBase 4.0 for data storage management. It was not library available for coordinate system conversions, nor for isoline generation. Myself developed all that. An early limited version of the system was operative by 1993 at the Casablanca meteorological station. Nowadays the system is still used by the department of numerical prediction for the generation of isoline drawings. The system was not finished because I moved to a new job in the consulting firm EICISOFT. Left this project was very hard for me. It was a highly challenging project born by my own initiative and developed all by myself, despite that almost all subjects (GIS, database, Windows, synoptic meteorology) were new for me. It required a lot of studying. Even now I think it was the most interesting project of my life. But I received an offer from EICISOFT. At that time EICISOFT was the leader in PC programming in the country, with years of C programming experience in Windows environment, so I couldn't resist the challenge to prove myself in a top environment with better working conditions. Any way in the next years I returned many times to this source trying to translating it to successive versions of Visual C++. |
| OS | Windows 3.x |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | PC |
Feasibility study for the use of Packet-Modems for the reception of meteorological facsimile |
|
| Period | Spring 1992 |
| Client | Institute of Meteorology |
| Description | I developed the communication software for the capture and displaying of meteorological facsimile images using Packet-modem. It was developed using Turbo C 2.0 and Turbo Assembler. The study showed negative results in order to the low quality of the image obtained from the 1 bit A/D converters incorporated by the amateur packet - modems used. |
| OS | MS-DOS |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | IBM PC Clone |
Automatic decoding of meteorological data |
|
| Period | Summer 1992 |
| Client | Institute of Meteorology |
| Description | I designed and developed a C++ object library for the decoding of meteorological data, and storing it on database. It was used Turbo C++ 1.0 and CodeBase 4.0. That object library was part of a bigger project that was delayed. |
| OS | MS-DOS |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | IBM PC Clone |
Communication module for command and data exchange between microcomputer and laboratory equipment for a spectroscopy data analysis |
|
| Period | Early 1992 |
| Client | Center for the Development of Scientific Equipment - CEDEIC. |
| Description | I developed the serial communication module for an improved version of the previous SDAS project software (see later). The module was developed in C and assembler, using Turbo C 2.0 and Turbo Assembler. It is actually in use in some Clinical Laboratories. |
| OS | MS-DOS |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | IBM PC XT clone |
Assembler library for drawing graphics primitives on SuperVGA graphics card |
|
| Period | 1992 |
| Client | Institute of Meteorology |
| Description | The work at the Institute required the displaying of satellite images on the existing PC hardware. But SuperVGA graphics cards where not fully supported by the programming environments at use in the Institute. Then it was necessary to develop an assembler library to implement basic drawing primitives on that hardware. I used Turbo Assembler to develop primitives for one of the cards. |
| OS | MS-DOS |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | IBM PC AT clone |
Spectroscopy data analysis system (SDAS) project |
|
| Period | 1988-90 |
| Client | Center for the Development of Scientific Equipment - CEDEIC. |
| Description | The requirements asked for the development of software for extracting and processing spectroscopy data from a laser densitometer developed at the CEDEIC. I analyzed, designed and developed an initial version using N88Basic for NEC computers. Then I developed a second version using Turbo Pascal 5 for IBM PC compatible hardware. That software was developed during practices while coursing 3rd and 4th years at the University. At the present this last version is still in use in some Clinical Laboratories in Havana Hospitals. |
| OS | MS-DOS |
| Software used |
|
| Hardware | NEC 9801, IBM PC XT |