This was our first Web Based project. Derbi was designed for use on the Exxon Intranet to manage their 13,000 retail outlets

Derbi was designed as a MsSql driven application using MS Interdev as the development tool. At the time we started this project Interdev was still in 'Beta', we upgraded to version 1.0 when it was released. Almost everything involved in this project was a first at Exxon and probably not done anywhere else at that time.

EXXON required a system which would allow the users to retrieve selected records from a SQL database and allow them to make modifications and update the database via the Intranet.

All of this needed to be done with Web pages which were easy for the users to understand and easy to use. Since there is a vast amount of data, the screens had to present the users with an easy-to-use and consistent method of criteria selection for record retrieval.

Another major portion of this system was the design and implementation of the Reporting system. This system had to allow the user to select the criteria for the Report and then produce the reports via the Intranet.

Also, the Reports, 31 in all, could be produced either with Crystal Reports or ASP generated. The code had to be designed in such a way as to allow for the user to select the criteria the same way for either type of report. The user selection criteria would then be used to order the desired report. Some problems came up with using Crystal Reports on the Intranet at that time, Crystal Reports was a very young piece of software at that time, so I had to find solutions which bypassed the Crystal problems.

I found a solution, which allowed the user to order either report by simply pressing an appropriate command button on the Web page. This project required the use of HTML and extensive vbScript and ASP code as well as extensive on-the-fly creation of SQL statements for record retrieval and Database updates.

Since none of this had ever been done at Exxon, the whole Internet/Intranet thing was very new at that time. I was on my own to discover the problems and find the solutions as they occurred while designing and building Derbi.

I also had to put together all of the Graphics and in some cases designed them from scratch. I became proficient in using MS Image Composer and Paint Shop Pro for these tasks.

It was an extremely challenging and interesting Project.