Rob works with VBA, regularly within Microsoft Office suite - primarily in Access database applications, Excel spreadsheets and Outlook personal information manager. These small VBA projects provides efficiencies and additional features in various daily tasks: for example, automated time reporting from Outlook calendar and RF Environment spreadsheets in Excel. Rob has also developed VBA software applications as a sub-contracted software developer. Some selected examples:

Treble Stef / TD Bank (sub-contract) – “Capacity Model” Access Application  (Fall -1998)

• Co-developed a custom application that imported mainframe data into Access tables for data processing and analysis.  This allowed bank managers and other administrators to the determine efficiency/capacity for nearly 500 branch offices across Canada.
• Created a set of VB/DAO based procedures, to import historical data from an earlier Capacity Model system (Lotus 1-2-3.) Created about 30 import routines and over 100 queries and procedures to import, parse, and pre-process .prn text files exported from an IBM AS-400 mainframe computers.
• Produced queries and reports for compiling branch data for nearly 500 branches across Canada.

 

TMP / Bell Mobility – Custom Access database application (Summer -1998) 

• Developed an Access application that automates sales related activities for TMP Canada. TMP books advertisements on behalf of Bell Mobility, in telephone directories across Canada. The application was used to maintain Canadian Bell Mobility dealer and billing information as well as automate weekly mail merges for printing advertising approval forms.
• Created Access queries to import flat-file database files into a relational database model.
• Developed application rules/logic for the main application function.
• Produced queries and reports used to create bi-lingual advertising approval forms.

 Treble Stef / Orion (sub-contract) – Crystal Reports for an Engineering Firm    (Fall/Winter - 1998)

• Created stored MS Access queries accessed by Crystal Reports Professional within Visual Basic Application.
• Created report layouts to client specifications.

Rob Poretti started working with Basic in 1982 on a Radio Shack TRS-80 personal computer - just at the time the IBM Personal Computer was being released in the market. A few years later he started working in Microsoft Basic for the Amiga - but then switched to Visual Basic 3 on the PC. Visual Basic and then later Visual Studio - was the jumping board into Microsoft's web scripting technologies used for database driven web applications using VB Script, ASP and ADO - for access to SQL Server database systems. Visual Basic programs included:

Control Room Acoustics software.

• Calculated axial, tangential and oblique room nodes for a given room dimension and plotted them.
• Calculated (simulated) a room's RT-60 based on the room materials construction- using an internal database of hundred's of construction materials.

Media Management Software.

• Visual Basic application with a MS Access (.mdb) database back-end for sound effects search and retrieval application.
• Provided various interfaces for searching and organizing sound effects and associated metadata.

COM object for skinning forms in Microsoft Visual Studio (1990)

• Visual Basic COM object created for run-time skinning of any form using the  9 model.
• Allows bitmap (bmp) images to skin rectangular forms for any Visual Basic project.

Rob Poretti has maintained a development server running various versions of Windows Server for the past 15+ years.  The development server has been configured with a Windows Server OS, SQL Server and Internet Information Manager since 1998: starting with Server 7.0 and IIS 5.0.  The Server/IIS/SQL platform has been upgraded continually - along with Visual Studio - to the current revisions.  Rob is part of the Microsoft Developers Network since 2002 and other Microsoft developers communities.

The development server is primarily used as a production server for staging web-sites prior to uploading them to Azure or DNN hosts - as well as performing SQL back-ups/restores and creating DTS packages for local and on-line web-sites.This includes (this) Poretti Productions web-site and WSM Forums.

Any good web developer has to understand and employ a wide range of "script" technologies and protocols, in order to build sophisticated web-sites. Rob is comfortable using most of them - and built many web-sites that used a wide range of technologies. Produced professional script applications and modules in everything from plain text editors,to MS Frontpage, Dreamweaver, and Visual Studio.

Rob also produced professional DNN skin packages - a combination of HTML, images, css and javascript - for the Dot Net Nuke platform.

Rob has developed advanced app prototyping methodologies using standard software apps, long before prototyping tools like Axusure, Balsamiq and InVision were developed. Expert Photoshop and Illustrator user: for web development, skins, wire-framing, prototyping, photo work, flash elements and technical illustrations. Also prototypes with interaction in Visio, Visual Studio and Axure.

Rob is also an intermediate AutoCAD illustrator.

Disney Records/Buena Vista Records – Flash Programming (2007 - 2010)

Rob Poretti started Flash programming for support on Flash enabled web-sites and for DotNetNuke skinning modules for the popular open-source web portal. This led to a sub-contract with Jeff Sheridan and Soundworks in Burbank, to provide Flash applications for all the Disney Records and Buena Vista Records CD releases between 2007 and 2010.

• Sub-contracted to produce CD-Extra Flash programming for all Disney Records and Buena Vista Records ECD’s (CD Extra), for the 2007-2010 releases. Develop creative and artistic interfaces to access extra content on compact disc releases including corporate promotions using Flash, ActionScript 2.0 , Action Script 3.0, Illustrator and Photoshop.
• Disney Records projects included:  Haunted House, Disney Girlz Rock 2, DisneyMania 6, Jungle Book, Mickeys Party Songs, Narnia - Prince Caspian, Tinker Bell, 101 Dalmatians, HSM2 Dance Party, HSM3, Wizards of Waverly Place, Radio Disney Jams 11,  High School Musical 2, Cars, Ralph World - and many more.
• Buena Vista Records projects included: Hannah Montana, Hannah 2 Non-Stop, Hannah Montana 3, Hannah The Movie, Billy Ray, Mitchel Musso, Yanni - Voices,

The Capital Stall - YouTube Political Commentary Videos (2008)

• Various Flash based videos for YouTube Channel.
• Three Videos: BUSH-CHENY, PAULSEN-BERNAK, OBAMA

(DNN) DotNetNuke – Forum Module Development Team (Skinning, CSS, Graphics) (2008 - 2010)

• Joined the Forum module development team to contribute in creating a completely skinable forum flexible and extensive skinning features including the first use of transparency and transparent PNGs.
• Multi CSS sheets properly cascaded to provide modularity, and flexibilty for ease-of-modifications and adaptations.

Snitz Forums Web Portal (Custom) – ASP/ADO/SQL (2005 - 2008)
Designed and implemented a technical support portal for a workstation manufacturer, which is the basis for the technical support and software update distribution system for their customers world-wide.  Over a three year period, this included the development of:

• a Content Management System.
• an automated HTML newsletter generator and member subscription service.
• an automated Service Bulletin notification system.
• a membership management, including integration with Forum, member, software version subscriptions.
• a complete skinning engine including user switchable graphics, icons, and page themes.
• Asset management.
  
  

Rob was contracted to provide a new approach to professional frequency coordination in Wireless Systems Manager - Sennheiser's software tool for managing wireless devices and frequency coordination. The Professional Set-up component was completely redesigned to accommodate complex coordinations for large wireless systems that included multi-brand devices in a graphically intuitive software environment. Professional set-up features a unique RF charting tool that allows the user to re-configure for any television system in the world and any RF environment. Rob was involved as the main architect as well as GUI designer, and was also the main developer for the Regional Grid Bar schema and the XML/XSL standards for reporting.

Rob also developed WSM Forums, a private web-site for the WSM development and beta-test team. For more information on WSM see here: Wireless Systems Manager.