David Wimberly's Business Page

Updated October 23, 2005

I have worked for the University of Arkansas since September 1982, less a one year sabatacal in 1998 when I tried the commercial world of J. B. Hunt Transport. My title is Project/Program Director. I perform systems analysis, design, and development for the University's administrative computer systems which have been architected using Software AG's Natural (programming language and development/execution environment) and ADABAS (data base management system) -- which were acquired in 1986. The resulting suite of applications are known by the acronym BASIS: Business and Administrative Strategic Information System. They include virtually all non-student systems -- payroll, position management, time and leave reporting, accounting, purchasing, payables, and non-student receivables. We now have documentation for most of these systems on the web, which can be accessed at http://www.uark.edu/basis.

Everything else here is work related HTML documentation I've done, for which there is currently no other official site for access. These are all project related and should be self explanatory to those having any interest in reading them.

• My presentation for the 14th Natural Conference held in October 2006 was titled Employee Empowerment Naturally: Payroll What Ifs on the Web and can be viewed at http://www.uark.edu/basis/UAWEB/SimulatedES.html. The Powerpoint version is also available at http://www.uark.edu/basis/UAWEB/SimulatedES.ppt, although much larger and not as informative.
  
• My presentation for the 11th Natural Conference held in October 2002 was titled Web-Enablement: Challenges and Solutions and can be viewed at http://www.uark.edu/basis/UAWEB/Challenges.html. That HTML version is the most Com-Plete (pun intended), but if you would prefer the Powerpoint version is also available at http://www.uark.edu/basis/UAWEB/Challenges.ppt. (Note that the Powerpoint file is 1,807KB -- in case you are on a slow connection.)
  
• My PowerPoint presentation for the Software AG Experience 2002 Conference was titled A Natural Extension: Using the Com-Plete HTTP Server for Web-Enablement and is available for download from http://www.uark.edu/basis/public_html/Exp2002ComPleteHTTP.ppt. (This file is 3,302KB.)
  
• The University moved to position based desk assignments in order to reduce the desk administrator's work when employees are hired and transfered. This document summarizes the means and effort required to make this transition.
  
• The documentation for desk administrators was updated as a result of the implementation of position based desk assignments. Since CMS and Script DCF/GML, the platform and language processor for previous documentation, went away 6/30/2001 the new Desk Administration Guide was converted to HTML using the tool B2H, and then edited for changes and potential standards.
  
• The original NSM Architecture Specficaitons and the NSM Maintenance System (NSM-MS) Functional Specifications have also been converted to HTML using B2H.
  
• We now know how to produce fax or e-mail output, in addition to print, from our Natural based mainframe applications (BASIS). This document describes the steps necessary to implement support for these output options within our applications. Note:Full support for implementing these features has been held up due to the transition currently underway to convert from the T4 fax server to the new ISO Fax server.
  
• The BASIS development team became concerned about the confidentiality of passwords (and the potential security implications) used for FTPing files to and from the mainframe. This resulted in the development of special standard processes for securing FTP passwords within BASIS applications, as described in this document.
• The University developed its own class for training programmers and users in how to use Natural. The Natural Basics Class and the Natural Advanced Class were also converted to HTML. Though out of date in many areas, such as our operating environment and references to Natural documentation, these materials are still basically sound and can be used to guide a new developer.

If you want to discuss any of these topics please feel free to contact me:

And of course the ubiquitous disclaimer: These materials are not endorsed, approved, sponsored, or provided by or on behalf of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.