Generating code automatically rather than entering it manually saves time and money. Gary often uses Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting Language) to generate SGML, HTML, JavaScript and SQL code. Here are some examples:

SGML generation

Ryerson Polytechnic University online course calendar:

Generated copious amounts of error-free SGML (a complex, strict meta-language of which HTML and XML are subsets) used to produce Ryerson Polytechnic University's online calendar. Working with an ASCII (plain text) dump of their printed calendar, Gary's scripts used pattern recognition logic to automatically create SGML for Course Descriptions, Programs of Study, Fees Tables and more. Manual corrections were necessary but approximately 95% of the work was done in a fraction of the time required for manual SGML markup.

HTML and Javascript generation

Interac Association website:

Gary used Dreamweaver to create a navigation and a page template, but then wrote a Perl program to generate all pages for the entire site and do otherwise manual tasks automatically: create meta tags, title tag information, links and navigation states for multiple navigation bars, stub pages for later insertion of content, links between english and french page versions, a site map and more. Making use of a rigid image naming convention the Perl program automatically inserts menu buttons and heading images, alt text, image dimension values and more. Using this method, testing was a breeze (no broken links, no mismatched page titles, etc.) and altering the site was a snap. Adding new sections and subsections is deliciously easy!

SQL statement generation

Integrated Justice Project:

A DBA (Database Adminstrator) at the Integrated Justice Project was given a simple tabbed text file containing thousands of lines of entries that were to be filtered into a database. Given that some of the tools used with Oracle were slow and clunky, he asked for help. Gary wrote a Perl program in a matter of minutes that read the text file and in a split second created thousands of lines of SQL statements that the DBA then used to populate the database. For the DBA to have tackled this problem on his own with Oracle's tools would have surely taken most of the day.

Gary is working on a program that will automatically generate a solid website, compatible with all browsers, for non-technical individuals and small businesses who would like to produce their own websites.