Success Story - ProSpec
This is a success story of how I affected change during my 10 years as Data Conversion Specialist at Thomson IP (formerly known as Master Data Center).
STATUS QUO: When I first began at Master Data Center, they were using older technology for their data conversions (COBOL, DOS and Word Perfect for DOS). Since this was their standard conversion platform, I learned the concepts of data conversions in COBOL under DOS. I soon realized that the conversion process was inefficient and could use some updating. For instance, lookup tables were entered in Word Perfect for DOS, updated by hand and then manually converted into COBOL lookup tables by the programmers. There were also other manual processes that could have been done with better tools or improved techniques.
CHANGE AGENT: When I spoke to upper management about this situation, they told me I could design and implement whatever tools I thought were necessary. To this end, I built a Spec-Writing System in MicroSoft Access called ProSpec. It solved many of the inefficiencies in the "old way" of doing things methods and provided a good potential for future changes, especially as the company upgraded to newer technologies.
REPORTING: One of ProSpec's most obvious benefits was that it provided a consistent technical specification to the client. In addition, details could easily be changed within the system to immediately produce an updated Specification. By producing the Specification directly from the Access database, there was a consistent look-and-feel to the report that did not change from conversion to conversion, as was the former case.
TIME SAVINGS: After ProSpec was implemented, it became obvious that a lot of time and effort was being saved, especially after the Programmers and Projects Managers became accustomed to the new system. By example, a data conversion that formerly took 2 months could easily be accomplished in 2 weeks.
CODE GENERATOR: One of ProSpec's most "amazing" features was that it could generate a complete conversion program directly from the Specification. This saved Programmers a lot of time, as they only had to review the Specification against the generated programming logic and make any necessary changes.
LOOKUP TABLES: Another of ProSpec's features was the ability to automatically generate and populate Lookup Tables directly from the input data. For instance, it was common to have a table to convert STATE into STATE-CODE or COUNTRY into COUNTRY-CODE. Once completed, these Lookup Tables were exported into a file format that could be used directly by the conversion program. The "old" method was to hard-code the Lookup Table and manually make changes as needed in the conversion program. A Lookup Table could be updated and the conversion program could be re-run within a few minutes.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: The original ProSpec was written with COBOL and DOS in mind. However, when the company's software was upgraded to use SQL Server, ProSpec was updated to export SQL Scripts instead of COBOL Code. These SQL scripts imported the input data directly into the SQL database via linked tables in Access. The scripts represented discrete steps in the data conversion process, which could be individually tested. Once the scripts were fully tested, the entire script could be re-run to ensure a "fresh" conversion.
SUMMARY: I consider this a success story because I was able to improve the data conversion process during my time there. There were many ups and downs during the 10 years, but the high point is that I got to use my creativity and see my new system being used every day for the improvement of the company. It was interesting to develop the user interfaces, forms, reports and database structure from scratch and having a lot of freedom in designing and implementing Best Practices for the process.
--- James Coons, Data Conversion Specialist ---
STATUS QUO: When I first began at Master Data Center, they were using older technology for their data conversions (COBOL, DOS and Word Perfect for DOS). Since this was their standard conversion platform, I learned the concepts of data conversions in COBOL under DOS. I soon realized that the conversion process was inefficient and could use some updating. For instance, lookup tables were entered in Word Perfect for DOS, updated by hand and then manually converted into COBOL lookup tables by the programmers. There were also other manual processes that could have been done with better tools or improved techniques.
CHANGE AGENT: When I spoke to upper management about this situation, they told me I could design and implement whatever tools I thought were necessary. To this end, I built a Spec-Writing System in MicroSoft Access called ProSpec. It solved many of the inefficiencies in the "old way" of doing things methods and provided a good potential for future changes, especially as the company upgraded to newer technologies.
REPORTING: One of ProSpec's most obvious benefits was that it provided a consistent technical specification to the client. In addition, details could easily be changed within the system to immediately produce an updated Specification. By producing the Specification directly from the Access database, there was a consistent look-and-feel to the report that did not change from conversion to conversion, as was the former case.
TIME SAVINGS: After ProSpec was implemented, it became obvious that a lot of time and effort was being saved, especially after the Programmers and Projects Managers became accustomed to the new system. By example, a data conversion that formerly took 2 months could easily be accomplished in 2 weeks.
CODE GENERATOR: One of ProSpec's most "amazing" features was that it could generate a complete conversion program directly from the Specification. This saved Programmers a lot of time, as they only had to review the Specification against the generated programming logic and make any necessary changes.
LOOKUP TABLES: Another of ProSpec's features was the ability to automatically generate and populate Lookup Tables directly from the input data. For instance, it was common to have a table to convert STATE into STATE-CODE or COUNTRY into COUNTRY-CODE. Once completed, these Lookup Tables were exported into a file format that could be used directly by the conversion program. The "old" method was to hard-code the Lookup Table and manually make changes as needed in the conversion program. A Lookup Table could be updated and the conversion program could be re-run within a few minutes.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: The original ProSpec was written with COBOL and DOS in mind. However, when the company's software was upgraded to use SQL Server, ProSpec was updated to export SQL Scripts instead of COBOL Code. These SQL scripts imported the input data directly into the SQL database via linked tables in Access. The scripts represented discrete steps in the data conversion process, which could be individually tested. Once the scripts were fully tested, the entire script could be re-run to ensure a "fresh" conversion.
SUMMARY: I consider this a success story because I was able to improve the data conversion process during my time there. There were many ups and downs during the 10 years, but the high point is that I got to use my creativity and see my new system being used every day for the improvement of the company. It was interesting to develop the user interfaces, forms, reports and database structure from scratch and having a lot of freedom in designing and implementing Best Practices for the process.
--- James Coons, Data Conversion Specialist ---