Old Love Never Dies…

I started my IT career some years ago (1993/1994) with a company called “Cairo Information Systems”. This company made very smart software to optimize container haulage. Think about stuff like optimal trips (real time) for imports, exports and inland moves, covering containerized and closed-trailer equipment for cargo types. Optimizing, among others, inland container transportation (empty mileages).

Anyway, just the other day, I received an e-mail of an old colleague (Hans Rabouw). Contrary to our believe that the firm had been taken over and the software stopped to exist; It still exist. Currently a company called LINE is (still?) selling the system under the name “Paris” (once chosen after “Paris” from Greek mythology). Seeing the screens brings back a lot of good memories. The technology apparently has been upgraded. It looks like regular technical stuff nowadays, regarding the interfacing (web pages, application servers, multi-tier, etc.), although the look and feel still looks the same.

The software was based on Visual Basic 3 (later on using the first Borland Delphi software) and a minimum of 2 Oracle 7.1 distributed databases (one in inbound and one in the outbound port, f.i., Rotterdam and Ipswich). All in all we were way ahead of our time, even already thinking about web based interfaces in a time that the internet wasn’t common.

An other thing I really liked were some of those interfaces with which you could literally drag and drop containers on a train or barge. The color of those containers indicated their the status (planned, still open slot, over planned), and for instance, if something was overbooked on this train, a container would then drop off at the end of the last train wagon. Double clicking on the colored container would bring up its planning status and other information needed for the planner.

πŸ˜‰

Also it had already “real time” (phone line) updates from the system to the truck driver on the road, via “mobile” phones, those big ones you sometimes still can see in old movies, displaying his next plan/route inland to pickup the next container.

Don’t forget, we talk about approx. the year 1994 / 1995. To talk in Oracle terms… I had to work with Oracle 7.0 on Windows NT 3.0…and believe me, in those days, that was an obscure environment. Combine this with the new functionality of distributed databases via database links and try to imagine the stability of the system we had to start with. I was very happy with the first updates: Oracle 7.1 and Windows NT 3.1

Despite this is cool the core of the system, of course, is the algorithm that plans and matches the optimal in- and outbound route.

I learned a lot in those days. Also I remember this as my “cowboy days”: in IT land everything was still possible. On Powerpoint sheets and a little bit of trust, multi dollar projects could be sold. Money was no issue in those days… It’s good that the IT sector became a little bit more realistic on that part.

Marco Gralike Written by:

4 Comments

  1. Ian
    August 30

    Marco, hows the mustache! I always knew Gralike was dutch for cowboy πŸ™‚ Nice to hear your comments. Yes the good old days, we often go down the pub and reminisce about the Heemraadssingel. Many a good Friday night spent in Mad Micks. I suppose as this is an Oracle blog I better mention it – We’re still using version 8! You must be mates with Larry Ellision by now.

  2. August 30

    Hey Marco,
    Well I am still here, ticking on 13 years now. To be honest the only reason I stayed around was to clean up your cowboy cavalier mistakes and I am still only half way through because there are so many. Only kidding, we threw all your code away a long time ago. No seriously though, we still praise all the work you did for us. Obviously I can’t talk about ‘the planning tool’ these days for legal reasons, it is so advanced now that you need classfied clearance just to speak the name. The web site is just a front for the old version. It is really good to see though that you really did enjoy those days, great days, great memories, often spoke about to this day, do you remember that time when we all went to Amsterdam and you were called up on stage….. of course you do! Keep up the good work. Andy

  3. August 31

    @Andy

    LOL !!!

    I only was called up on stage, because you didn’t dare to (chicken)…but please let it be…my wife and daughter maybe also read this stuff one day.

    πŸ˜‰

  4. August 31

    @Ian

    Ehh, never chance a winning team (but do you know Oracle 8 is desupported?) You did upgrade to the “i” part right?!

    Larry no; I sometimes have the luck to discuss with a guy called Ken Jacobs though. In the end we are all people; and btw you can have a good laugh with Ken…

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