September 2009 Back to consulting work through San Roque Software.
September 2006 to September 2009 I have been working for a large multi-national manufacturing company, writing and maintaining process control software using Fortran and C on VAX and Alpha computers running VMS.
March 2006 to August 2006 I worked on a variety of small projects on a freelance basis, including a database-driven version of the website generator, using PHP/MySQL.
1994 to 2006 For the last decade I have been helping to run a family business making and selling motor caravans.
As part of my duties I set up and maintained data management and accounting systems running on a small network. I routinely used MDaemon; Sage Accounting and Payroll; Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook and Project. I created a workshop time recording system, a website generator and a number of utilities.
During this period I also undertook some contract work for STB Systems including a real-time payments interface, an account "sweeping" system, data extraction programs and some periods of onsite support.
1987 to 1994 Director of STB Systems Ltd with both client-facing and back office duties.
Projects included a Trader Support System, migration tools, site management, a major system port and provision of internal IT services.
1986 to 1987 Freelance contract programming.
1985 to 1986 I spent this period making and selling a tape backup device for NCR PCs.
1984 to 1985 Co-founder of a company designing and making hardware + software solutions.
Projects included a tape backup system, a multi-user PC and a telex system.
1975 to 1984 Freelance programming and consultancy.
1973 to 1975 I moved into computing with Cybernet Timesharing Ltd as a client support analyst using Fortran and Assembler.
1971 to 1973 Worked for Negretti & Zambra Aviation designing and production engineering aircraft instruments.
1968 to 1971 Worked for Smiths Industries designing and developing aircraft instruments.

Workshop Time Recording System
A simple but robust user interface with a suite of filters and tabulating programs to generate a wide variety of reports. Written in C and capable of running under MSDOS or Windows.
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Website Generator
A C++ program to generate a set of web pages with content and organisation derived from data extracted from a Sage Accounting System. Generated pages are static HTML with stylesheet and a little JavaScript.
Website Generator Mk II
Complete re-write to produce the same web pages but using PHP/MySQL to simplify the update process.
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Various Utilities
A number of stand-alone Delphi programs to manage and search supplier product information and several VBA applications to predict stock requirements and generate purchase orders.
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Real-time Payments Interface
This was a project to replace a SWIFT ST400 link by taking pre-formatted payment messages from an AIMS Banking System on a DEC VAX in London and transmitting them to an IBM mainframe in Frankfurt. The interface was written in VAX-C and used IBM MQSeries transaction processing middleware to pass messages back and forth between the two systems. My role was to design, write and implement the interface, with the MQ Series installed and managed by the client's IT department. The interface runs 24/7 and is a mission-critical component.
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Sweeping System
This add-on to an AIMS Banking System generated accounting transactions to "sweep" account balances into consolidated accounts, according to a set of user-modifyable rules. I worked in a team of two and was responsible for the design and implementation of the recursive sweeping algorithm. The program generates accounting entries to transfer balances from the individual (collection) accounts to the higher level balance accounts. Written in AIMS with the assistance of a custom pre-processor for macro substitution.
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Data Extraction Programs
A suite of programs to extract data from an AIMS Banking System to present a series of 'flattened' views for importation to another system on a daily basis. Written in AIMS using my pre-processor.
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Onsite Support
Manned a Banking System help-desk with sole responsibility for user support and custom reporting.
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Trader Support System
Fibonacci wave cycle analysis tool taking a real-time market data feed, maintaining a database of prices and presenting the data graphically. The system was written in C and ran on Sun hardware under Solaris, Sun's Unix OS. Multi-user client/server architecture using TCP/IP at the socket level. Working in a team of two, my responsibilities included data feed handler, the client/server aspects and the in-house database software which used caching to achieve the necessary performance.
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Migration Tools
I spent a year developing the tools and methodology for migrating a banking system consisting of hundreds of programs and dozens of data files, from the archaic AIMS language to a more flexible mixture of client/server, C, Motif (GUI), report-writer and relational database. The goal of this project was scalability. The conversion could be undertaken piecemeal, program by program, file by file, as parts of the system were updated to meet changing business demands. In this way, the conversion was not an all-or-nothing project but an evolutionary process.
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Site Management
Ran a small team supporting and developing a client's AIMS Treasury system. The most significant project was the change of base currency of the system.
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System Porting
Part of a team of ten porting an AIMS banking system from DEC PDP-11 to VAX. My main contribution was in the area of operation system incompatibilities, including the invention of a method of interfacing the AIMS system with C programs, enabling integrated running on a VAX cluster. Because of the long-term lending and borrowing instruments, a significant amount of Y2K work was involved.
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IT Services
I had responsibility for hardware and software upgrades, especially VAX/VMS. I implemented a local area network and performed system management, including VMS operating system upgrades.
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Contract Programming
This comprised a 3-month contract at Heathrow Airport, working on flight information systems written in Basic and a 1-year contract with BP Finance, as a member of the team supporting and enhancing their AIMS treasury accounting package. Projects included an automated cheque reconciliation system, a payment interface to a major international bank and Y2K work.
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Tape Backup System
I designed a tape backup system for the NCR DecisionMate V personal computer. This included the hardware interface, backup software and power supply. Written in Pascal.
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Multi-User PC
I designed a multi-user office computer based on Intel 80186 hardware running Concurrent CPM. This included hardware design and Operating System implementation. Written in Assembler.
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Telex System
I designed a multi-user telex switch using a proprietary telex modem and multi-user PC. I had co-responsibility for overall system design and implementation. Written in C.
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Consultancy
This was split between a major merchant bank working firstly on an investment accounting system written in Fortran, secondly on a financial project evaluation system also in Fortran then on an AIMS banking and stock-dealing system.
A significant proportion of the time was spent as consultant to a company of econometric consultants, developing and maintaining their data processing systems. This included supporting a proprietary Unix-like operating system written in assembler.
Some of the early part of this period involved the design and implementation of telephone network analysis hardware and associated operating and analysis software.
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© N J Fox 2006-2009 Page updated 23 August, 2009 18:33 All trademarks acknowledged