Profile

Work

I am a Full-Stack Web & Software Developer with over fifteen years of experience. Over countless hours I have discovered that I have a passion and talent for creating works that are both highly functional and technically sound.

I have also discovered that I have a knack for understanding new theories & concepts – I am an adamant perfectionist when it comes to just about anything I do.

Current Skill set

Web
  • Responsive Mobile first HTML & CSS3 – Bootstrap, SASS
  • JavaScript (Vanilla JS, JQuery, Angular)
  • PHP (Web Server & CRON)
  • CRM / CMS packages – WordPress, OsCommerce, Marketo
  • MySQL
  • Git
  • SEO & PPC
Applications
  • Java
  • Python
Legacy Technology
  • ASP (classic)
  • Visual Basic
  • Adobe Flash
Software Packages
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • MySQL
  • Jet Brains Web Suite
  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Access
  • Maya 3d
  • and more…

Study

At the start of 2019, I am entering my 4th year of a 6 year course Studying a Bachelor of
Computer Science with gaming specialisation at Charles Sturt University

Hobbies

Pyrotechnic

A license Pyrotechnician in the state of N.S.W. Australia for over twenty years, performing
professional grade pyrotechnic shows ranging from from Chinese String Crackers, Indoor Close
Proximity Fireworks, Aerial Shells up to 125mm and Aerial Salutes up to 75mm.

A founding member of the Pyrotechnics Industry Association of Australia (PIAA), Based in Sydney
but have performing shows all over NSW for all types of events.

Car Enthusiast

An active member in the Skylines Australia NSW car club I regularly volunteer to help run events.

Social Media

You can connect with me professionally on LinkedIn,
or stalk me through Twitter

Portfolio

Employment

Wizardry Fireworks

PRODOCOM Australia

Hannover Fairs Australia

E-Web Marketing

Freelance Websites

Personal Projects

Tipping Comp

cruizen’

National Pyrotechnics

iblott accessories

Blog

MS Excel: SEARCH() Function

Microsoft’s Excel has a function called SEARCH(), this function can be used to find the location of a particular character or string within a string.

Understanding the way Excel uses SEARCH()

This formula required 3 different inputs; A NEEDLE, A HAYSTACK and a START LOCATION.

The formula is as follows:

SEARCH(NEEDLE, HAYSTACK, START LOCATION)

Using SEARCH()

For example, if I had the string “Ian Blott, Sydney Australia” in cell A1 and I wanted to find the location of the comma then I would use the formula:

SEARCH(",",A1,1)

This would return the value 10.

You might think that having a START LOCATION is odd, however, the START LOCATION can come in very handy if you know that you may have multiple positives in the search results.

For Example, If the string was “Ian Blott, Web Developer, Sydney Australia” and you wanted the location of the second comma you can use the START LOCATION to effectively change the HAYSTACK to start at position 11.

The reason I use position 11 and not 10 is because position 10 is the first comma and the search feature includes the position you nominate for the START LOCATION. Thus if I used position 10, the search result would come back as finding it in position 1.

START LOCATION 10 will make the HAYSTACK “, Sydney Australia”.

START LOCATION 11 will make the HAYSTACK ” Sydney Australia”.

Of course, in the real world this isn’t ever going to be this easy. If I am using text strings, the position of the first comma could be anywhere so using a hard number for the START LOCATION is impractical. So get fancy!

Getting Fancy

I can double up on my search to find the position of the second NEEDLE:

By replacing the START LOCATION with another SEARCH() function I make a child search look for the first comma, then use that value to start the location of the parent search.

SEARCH(NEEDLE1, HAYSTACK1, SEARCH(NEEDLE2, HAYSTACK2, START LOCATION))

In action:

SEARCH(",",A1,SEARCH(",",A1,1)+1)

Note that there is a +1 after the START LOCATION search. This goes back to when I explained that I used position 11 and not 10, where if I where to use the position of the first comma it would include that in the HAYSTACK for the second search.

Side note:

As with all my posts, quite often they are going somewhere and require 2,3 or even 4 different functions to perform the final task. Bellow are the related posts that tell an overall story

Published by
February 12, 2011 10:22 pm

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Creative

I studied Digital Media for 12 months at Mt Druitt TAFE. While  doing so we studied The 3D Modeling Program ‘Maya’. During the course I produced a number of 3D scenes and a couple of 3D animated movies.

I have also played in other programs such as Bryce 3D, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave, Vue D’esprit and a few others. However, i have always returned to Maya as a personal preference.

Bellow are a number of works that i have produced from these various programs.

Bryce 3D: Balls

Vue D’esprit: Sulfuric

Maya: Living Room

Maya: Gauntlet

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