Kansas Department of Revenue - 2013

 In 2013, the Kansas Department of Revenue was in the midst of a major modernization project. Their software was created using Lotus Notes. This itself was very problematic because the software was very buggy. It crashed frequently, and had no data validation. The Line of Business applications created using Lotus Notes had many tasks, such as operation of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Congressional Legislation, Document Management, Taxation, and more.

It was my task to modernize these applications. The data was stored using Lotus Notes' internal database, which was error prone. One of the first major tasks was Data Migration. I had to port the data to a MSSQL database. The data within the legacy database was unsound, and had several glaring issues with invalid data, many times done on purpose. It was common to have invalid zip codes, emails, and more. It was also common to see profane language written in the database fields, as well as jokes, weird characters, and even racist language. I created a quick program to automate this task. I corrected many data errors.

The new program was a web application written using ASP.NET WebForms. The new software had a much cleaner and crisper look. I added validation using Regex to handle the data errors, and created new validation to check for profane, racist, or otherwise bigoted language. This meant that the data stored was now sound. Zip codes now were all numeric, with their 5 or 9 characters, to give an example.

Lotus Notes did have a feature to easily convert documents between HTML, PDF, TXT, and Word formats. So I replicated that feature on the new client using iTextSharp. This allowed government employees to easily transmit data between employees and departments. This was crucial for the congressional application, which allowed the legislative branch of government to easily add amendments to any fiscal bills that arise.