EMAP | | Shots originally used a web based Content Management System (CMS) to manage the data for the website. However, as the data and complexity grew, the performance of the web based CMS was no longer sufficient. I therefore suggested building a PC based Visual Basic (VB) application that they could use to manage both the website and the book production. Since its introduction, the VB CMS has been modified a number of times to include additional functionality and design. As well as enabling the Shots research team to update the data on the site, it also enabled them to produce a large number of reports (exportable in Word, Excel and as raw text or XML), send individual or bulk emails out to people listed in the database and to also report on the effieiency of the research teams during the data updating cycle. Importantly, the VB CMS also includes a module which generates output files which are used to create the printed Shots magazine (bi-monthly) and directory (annually).
Technical Information
The VB CMS is developed entirely using VB6 with the same SQL Server 2000 backend that the website uses. The CMS is based on a 3 tier model and shares much common functionality (database connections etc) with other similar applications. | |
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EMAP | | The Production Guide database is less complex than the Shots database but still has a large number of records and some functionality unique to the website. After a recent relaunch, it was decided to move the CMS for the Production Guide to an online platform to enable the staff from the USA to access it (this was not possible with the existing VB CMS). The CMS enables the Production Guide staff to manage all of their entity data for the site (companies, people and video information) as well as running reports, managing the text on the website and generating the output files required for the creation of the printed directory.
Technical Information
Having completed a course in XML Webservices, I decided to use VB.net to develop the CMS and deliver the CMS using 'Click Once' technology. 'Click once' enabled me to build a robust, highly efficient application in VB.net with the advantage of delivering the CMS via the internet, so we gain PC application efficiency and web accessability. | |
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Sanguin International | | I began working for Sanguin after leaving university and was given the Acclaim project to manage. Sanguin produces software for the blood testing industry in both Europe and America. Being overseen and audited by the FDA, the controls on the software that we produced were high. Sanguin Acclaim is used to manage the classification of blood samples awaiting testing. As blood samples come into the lab, the staff use Acclaim to record receipt of the blood and also to manage its time in the lab. Acclaim is a very successful product and is in place in a large number of plasma testing centres in both Europe and America. In some centres, as many as 20,000 samples can be passed through the system in a single day. For more information on Sanguin Acclaim, click here.
Technical Information
The Acclaim application was developed using VB 5 and offered a choice of Access or SQL Server database (depending on the size of the blood centre in is to be used at). The application has to be user friendly enough so that people in a lab wearing lab clothing can use the system effectively, so the menu system and shortcut controls were carefully thought out. The system also took input from a barcode reader to speed the process of registering receipt (known as 'accessioning') the samples. The databases for the larger testing centres grew very large in quite a short space of time so the design of the tables, relationships and indexing were all vital. | |
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