Chas. J. Owens IV
chas.owens@gmail.com § (703) 348-3020Summary
- DBA/Developer whose primary experience has been with C, Perl, and Korn Shell on UNIX platforms.
- Have spent most of my career working closely with Informix versions 7.1, 7.3 and 9 and recently DB2 8.2.
- Acted as a subject area expert for other developers.
- Thrived in roles that required the wearing a variety of hats, and enjoyed serving as a liaison among different departments.
Experience
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Hired by Test Pros to provide testing and development services to Paxfire, Inc. as a contractor and was hired directly by Paxfire after three months.
Duties included:
- Developed test cases for web, proxy, and custom servers
- Wrote code to automate test cases
- Created and maintained a test lab
- Performed system integration work
Technologies worked with:
- Perl 5.8, BASH, ANSI C, and C++
- CVS, Subversion, Seapine SCM, and Seapine Testtrack Pro
- Squid and Apache 2
Accomplishments:
- Developed a test suite to run regression tests against web, proxy, and custom servers
- Created mock servers to stand in for external resources to allow more rigorous testing
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Executed a one year contract to provide development services to Marriott, Inc.
Duties included:
- Wrote code to transform data using Perl, Java, SAS, and Unix Utilities
- Troubleshot existing processes
- Wrote extracts/reports using SQL and Perl to meet client needs
- Acted as production support for several processes
- Was a lead developer with three subordinates
Technologies worked with:
- Oracle and MySQL
- Perl 5.8, JAVA, Korn Shell, and Ruby (with Rails)
- PVCS, CVS, and Subversion
- MQ Series
Accomplishments:
- Had first chance to touch Ruby professionally
- Learned more about SAS
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I was employed as a Senior Software Developer for a third party data processor whose major clients are online travel sites (such as Expedia) and financial institutions (such as Citi). Most of the work was done with Perl and BASH with a little Java on the side.
Duties included:
- Wrote code to transform data using Perl, Java, XSLT, and Unix Utilities from various formats to an internal format
- Wrote code to load data into DB2 using the DB2 CLP
- Wrote extracts/reports using SQL and Perl to meet client needs
- Acted as production support for several processes
Technologies worked with:
- DB2 8.2.4 and MySQL
- Perl 5.6 and 5.8, Java, and BASH
- MKS Source Integrity and Integrity Manager
Accomplishments:
- Together with another employee, created a test/development environment using VMWare Server and VMWare Player.
- Learned enough about Java to be dangerous in it.
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Executed a one year contract for GEICO to migrate a group of Informix databases on Solaris to DB2 on AIX.
Duties included:
- Analyzed existing Korn shell, ESQL/C, and SAS code
- Created of migration documents to describe changes needed to make the code work with DB2
- Changed existing code to work with DB2
- Tested code changes
- Managed two and half other developers
- Supported (for a limited time) the newly moved databases in production
- Setup and administered a CVS repository
Technologies worked with:
- DB2 8.2.1, Informix 8.4, and Informix 9.4
- ESQL/C, Perl 5.6, and Korn Shell
- CVS
- CA Unicenter and CA7
Accomplishments:
- Instituted a source control policy
- Created a migration guide to aid in training new and existing developers in the differences between Informix and DB2
- Served on the Architecture Review Board
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Executed one year contract (plus a six month extension) to provide services to Capital One (EPS and Insight departments)
Duties included:
- Coded and Tested Perl and Korn shell scripts for EPS department
- Coded and Tested Perl and Korn shell scripts accessing a DB2 database (inserts, updates, selects) for Insight department
- Participated in table design for Insight department
- Setup data Translation using Sterling Commerce's Gentran Server for UNIX 6.0
- Created Process Flows and other documentation for new and existing processes
- Third level production support for existing system
Technologies worked with:
- File Transfer Solutions (Net::FTP, Net::SCP, command line ftp)
- Database interfaces (DBD::DB2 and DBD::Oracle)
- Email (Mail::Sendmail on MS Windows and MIME::Lite on UNIX)
- DB2 8.1.4 and Oracle 8i
Accomplishments:
- Started a Perl users group at Capital One (COWPLUG)
- Wrote a generic cross-platform file transfer solution using Perl with the DBI, DBD::DB2, Net::FTP, Net::SCP
- Became very familiar with the NACHA standard
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Executed a two month contract to provide services to American Pioneer Title Insurance Company.
Duties included:
- Reverse engineered an external Informix database
- Built SQL queries based on observed behavior of a third party application
- Installed Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, Oracle, and Informix
- Configured Informix and Oracle Databases on MS Windows NT and RHEL AS
Technologies worked with:
- Perl 5.6 and ESQL/C
- Oracle 9i, Informix 7.3, and Informix 9.3
Accomplishments:
- Produced accurate SQL statements from observed behavior of a legacy third-party green screen application and system tables (no schema was provided) that allowed creation of an application with more capabilities than the original
- Brushed up my ESQL/C skills
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Duties included:
- Wrote and maintained backend processes in Korn shell, Perl, and Informix SPL
- Designed new database structures and modified existing ones
- Provided SQL help to developers
- Peer-reviewed ESQL/C, Perl, and SQL code
- Acted as the local UNIX/Linux guru (installs, config, tutorials, etc.)
Technologies worked with:
- Informix 7.3 and 9.x
- Stored Procedure Language, ESQL/C, and Perl 5.6
- Voyant Readivoice and Compunetix Bridges
Accomplishments:
- Wrote an OO Perl module to replace an aging SPL interface to Voyant Bridges
- Moved other Dev/DBAs to Linux as their primary workstation
- Lead push to have a copy of the production DB installed on each Dev/DBA's Linux box (reducing the amount we stepped on each other during development)
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I was employeed first as a developer and later as a DBA/developer to program document management systems. Applications included MSDS storage/retrieval, office automation, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and a generic document storage system.
Duties included:
- Maintained several Plexus AD16 (Informix 4GL like language) programs
- Ported and maintained ESQL/C programs from AIX to HPUX and Solaris
- Designed, coded, and tested ESQL/C applications for many types of UNIX
- Designed and coded stored procedures to support a PowerBuilder application
- Designed new database structures and modified existing ones
- Provided SQL help to developers
Technologies worked with:
- Informix 7.x and Oracle 8
- Informix 4GL (as Plexus AD16), ESQL/C, and Stored Procedure Language
Accomplishments:
- Learned Informix 4GL (as Plexus AD16), ESQL/C, SQL, and SPL
- Learned Database Design
- Created a self-contained searchable MSDS database on CD
Skills
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Programming Language Level of Skill Years used Perl 5 Expert 7 Korn Shell Expert 10 Bourne Shell Expert 10 SQL Expert 7 ANSI C Expert 4 ESQL/C Expert 3 Stored Procedures Expert 4 Plexus AD16/Informix 4GL Expert 2 BASH Intermediate 10 XSLT Intermediate 1 SAS Beginner 1 Ruby Beginner 1 Java Beginner 1 Lisp/Scheme/Haskell Tyro 1 -
Operating System Level of Skill Years used UNIX (general) Expert 10 Linux (multiple flavors) Expert 10 Solaris Expert 7 AIX Expert 4 HPUX Intermediate 3 Microsoft Windows Expert 10 -
Relational Database Level of Skill Years used Informix Expert 5 DB2 Expert 4 Oracle Intermediate 3 MySQL Intermediate 2 Microsoft SQL Server Intermediate 2 PostgreSQL Intermediate 2 -
Miscellaneous Level of Skill Years used ClearCase Intermediate 2 ClearQuest Intermediate 2 Subversion Intermediate 1 CVS Intermediate 5 PVCS Intermediate 2 MKS Integerity Manager Intermediate 1 MKS Source Integerity Intermediate 1 CSS Beginner 1 HTML Intermediate 1 XML Intermediate 2 Gentran Server 6.0 Intermediate 2 Seapine Test Track Pro Intermediate 1 Seapine Surround SCM Intermediate 1 Squid Beginner 1 Apache 2 Beginner 1
The most important skill a programmer can have is the ability to read.