Phil Copper
Systems Designer/Developer
Contact
Telephone: +44 (0)7595 022252
Email: pc@philcopper.me
Profile
I am a U.K. based freelance systems designer and developer with many years experience in both mainframe and web environments. I operate through my own limited company and am a member of the Professional Contractors Group. I carry full professional indemnity insurance.
My work is characterised by a dedication to creating a clean, elegant and robust solution to the requirements. Simple, well-documented code is less prone to errors and much easier to modify as requirements change over time. I apply the same philosophy to documentation and strive for a clear, concise style with the minimum use of jargon.
Recent Design & Build Projects
- XML data feed into a large legacy Oracle system;
- Object-oriented PL/SQL backend for a web-services based Energy Performance Certificates system;
- Object-oriented PL/SQL extension to a legacy system to support the client's customer win-back strategy;
- Web Services and JMS/Oracle AQ interfaces from PL/SQL to JRules;
- Intranet test harness for an Oracle AQ XML messaging system;
- Web-based mobile phone fulfillment system;
- Ajax/PHP/MySQL image gallery.
Skills
| Oracle 8 | XML | Sun Solaris Unix |
| Oracle 9i | XPATH | Redhat Linux |
| Oracle 10 | XSLT | Fedora Linux |
| PL/SQL | PHP | Apache |
| Oracle Forms 6i | MySQL | Ajax |
| C/Pro*C | HTML/XHTML | Web Services |
| Perl | JavaScript | Web Standards |
| Shell Scripting | CSS |
Recent Clients
British Gas Services
I have recently performed two assignments for this client; both involved parsing and processing XML data feeds.
The first, in the spring of 2007, was in response to the Energy Performance Certificates legislation. The uncertainty surrounding the introduction of this legislation led to very tight deadlines, which were met. I designed and built an object-oriented PL/SQL backend for a web-based system that received XML inspection requests via web-services, parsed them, loaded them into the database and subsequently managed the full job life cycle.
The second, and more recent, involved the design of an external XML data feed into a large legacy Oracle system and the generation of engineer visit requests from the received data. The build and test work was carried out by an offshore third-party supplier. I was responsible for writing the technical documentation and ensuring the supplier's understanding of the system, the quality of their work and their conformance to system standards.
In both cases extensive use was made of XPATH when parsing the data feeds.
LogicaCMG
Work undertaken for this client involved designing, developing and maintaining very large scale Oracle 9i systems for a major U.K. energy supplier.
Projects included:
- Web services in PL/SQL and simple Java;
- XML data transfer via JMS and Oracle Advanced Queues;
- Intranet test harness (Perl);
- XML/XSLT intranet reports;
- Object oriented PL/SQL;
- Perl batch processes;
- Pro*C batch processes;
- Oracle Forms 6i.
I also wrote proposals and functional specifications for LogicaCMG's client and technical and module test specifications for other developers.
Vanguard Plc
This client, a major mobile telephone supplier, required a web-based fulfillment system for internal use and also to offer as a service to their partners. The system includes:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM);
- Stock control;
- Order fulfillment
- Comprehensive reporting.
The system is written in PHP and employs replicated MySQL databases for fail-over and disaster recovery. The back-office processes are written in Perl and PHP. Data transfer from other CRM companies has been implemented using Secure FTP, Secure Copy, HTTP and PGP encrypted Excel spreadsheets. Some of the reports are generated as PDF files in real time directly from PHP. Initially, I also hosted and administered the system but Vanguard has now taken over this function.