This paper looks at the design and implementation of a wireless data entry system using cheap and widely available personal digital assistants (PDAs) as a hardware platform. This problem is viewed through the context of a small transportation company that is transitioning to a medium-large scale operation and needs a custom tailored solution to improve payroll efficiency and reduce errors. In my report, I detail the design considerations, the user stories, and the pitfalls that come with implementing a new system that interfaces with existing applications.
This project is the second revision of the original Paypal Helper.
Paypal Helper 2.0 UI
Unlike the original, this version makes use of the new, official Paypal API and some SQL to do the heavy lifting. Instead of using a ListView, Paypal Helper 2.0 uses a DataGridView with a Datatable to easily implement different kinds of filtering on the data, so users can narrow down transactions based on multiple sets of criteria. This project is in an alpha state and will probably remain that way unless my ebay store receives the kind of volume it used to.
This is a program I wrote to help high volume ebay sellers.
After struggling with 100+ orders per day on ebay, I realized I needed an automated system. Ebay and paypal are notoriously difficult to work with for large scale operations and the applications that interface with them tend to be short on features. With this in mind, I set out to create my own order processing system.
Before Paypal had an API, it was very difficult to get buyer information for creating internet based shipping labels. This program allowed you to log into your account and retrieve shipping information for your buyers. It also saved transaction snapshots, so you wouldn’t need an internet connection to view archived sales.
This application allowed you to keep in constant communication with your buyers to ensure they were happy by using a click and email system that notifies buyers of their shipment’s status. The notification idea is based on the system used by Dell for shipments where the customer is notified of shipment status through frequent, step-based email.
For example, a step 1 email would say order received, and would be marked as step 1 of 5. A step 2 email would say order confirmed and so on. For my order system, I used the following steps: order received, order processing, order processed, shipping label created, and order shipped. Using this method, customers were much more likely to leave positive feedback because I had kept in constant communication with them through a simple point and click interface.
Once Paypal created an API, I moved to Paypal Helper 2.0, which takes advantage of the new API to streamline large scale ebay order processing.
