My SAS courses in LMS now have downloadable certificates

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My SAS courses are made up of sections containing SAS-related topics, with new topics posted over time. The LMS versions of these courses can be accessed using the menu: Forums, Features and Subscriptions > LMS Courses + Certificates (if you are logged in with a Programming membership) or Online SAS course – Home page (to view the topics when you are logged in).

Note that the courses with certificates below are not available to registered members with Free membership, so to upgrade to Programming membership for only GBP 5/month please click here. It is certainly possible to complete all of these courses in a single calendar month while you are a Programming member.

Please feel free to post these certificates on your favourite social media platforms to show that you have completed my SAS courses.

When you click the LMS Courses + Certificates link a new page will open showing the available courses.

If you have not yet started a course, then the page will include [Course Overview] and [START COURSE]. However, when a course has been completed the web page will look like this:

  • Clicking on [Course Overview] will display the topics in the course.
  • Clicking on [VISIT RESULTS] will open the Course Completed web page:
  • This page includes the topics in the course.
  • Clicking on [FIND MORE COURSES] will open the Courses Overview web page.
  • Clicking on [VIEW CERTIFICATE] will open your downloadable certificate in a PDF file like those below:





Use it, or Lose it! 10 Ways of Getting the Most SAS Value from my Retirement…

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To me retirement only means not earning a salary from my SAS programming, which will, from now, become a pure hobby. However, to program in SAS AND to be able to get access to all of its components, including Enterprise Guide, batch processing, and the Program Editor, the SAS licence has to be paid for. For me this would amount to paying around GBP 3,000 a year, and so I have drawn up a list of ways that you can contribute to that total, but at the same time benefit from my 40+ years of SAS programming, and 30+ years as an independent SAS consultant, working in the banking, insurance, IT, pharmaceutical, HR and marketing business sectors, and on IBM mainframe, OS/2, VAX, Unix, Windows and Linux.

Any excess income will be used to extend my SAS licence into the following year. I’m planning to use this income from September 2024, so we now have a few months to raise sufficient funds.

165Days remaining 13Hours 26Minutes 19Seconds

The following are grouped into group¹ (for companies or collaborating individuals) and individual² options:

For Companies or Collaborating Individuals¹:

No.1 = 1/2 day SAS training, including digital training materials, for GBP 1,800

No.2 = 1 month of confidential online support with unlimited questions for GBP 720

No.3 = 1 day of remote SAS programming for GBP 600

No.4 = 1 hour of 1-to-1 SAS video discussion for GBP 100

  • Book your hour of SAS video discussion.
  • Video discussions use Jitsi Meet, which is limited to 100 participants.
  • Topics include:
    • Base SAS syntax
    • Base SAS functions
    • Base SAS formats and informats
    • Base SAS procedures
    • Data step merging
    • PROC SQL syntax
    • PROC SQL merging
    • PROC SQL updating
    • Macro introduction
    • Macro syntax
    • Macro variables
    • ODS Graphics introduction
    • ODS Graphics procedures
    • Enterprise Guide introduction
    • SAS/Studio introduction

For Individuals²:

No.5 = 1 confidential remote question for GBP 72

No.6 = 1 ebook copy of course notes to one of my SAS courses from GBP 11

  • My SAS course notes are published as ebooks on Lulu.com, who, unlike Amazon, etc., do not take massive commissions, so I receive most of the published price.
  • See my Book Table for more details.

No.7 = 1 ebook copy of one of my SAS books directly from my blog site for GBP 12.50

  • “Saving Time and Money using SAS” is no longer sold in softback, but you can download the ebook directly from my blog site.
  • See my Book Table for more details.

No.8 = 3 months of subscription to the SAS Programming Forum, including access to my online SAS course collection, for 3 x GBP 5

  • Details of what the SAS Programming Forum is can be found here.
  • See how to subscribe to the SAS Programming Forum, including my online SAS course collection, here.

No.9 = 1 copy of one of my SAS softback books from a reseller from GBP 25

  • Although these options appear to be lower in the list than expected, I receive very little from softback books sold, because I received an advance when they were published.
  • See my Book Table for more details.

No.10 = 1 copy of one of my SAS ebooks from a reseller from GBP 3

  • Although these options appear to be lower in the list than expected, I receive very little from ebooks sold by resellers, because I received an advance when they were published.
  • See my Book Table for more details.

Windows 11 can run Android apps!

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If you use Windows 11, and it has been updated to 22H2, then you can run Android apps from Amazon Appstore or side-load them as APK files.

  1. Install “Amazon Appstore” from the Microsoft Store on your Windows 11 PC. This will give you access to Android apps in the Amazon Appstore, but will also install the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). If you cannot find this software there, then you may still need to update Windows 11 to 22H2.
  1. There is at least one Holland Numerics app that can be installed directly from the Amazon Appstore, “How Do You Do This in SAS?“, which is free and will give you a taste of what the other Android apps will look like on Windows 11.
  2. If you want to install Android apps from APK files, then you will need to install another app from the Microsoft Store. I have tested a few of the free APK installers, and am currently using “Apk File Installer“.
  1. If you would like to install some of my apps directly from APK files on Windows 11, then they can be downloaded from the Windows 10/11 Store (which includes prices), and select one of the apps with “(Android app)” in their name, They are downloaded as Zip files, which must be unzipped before installing with the APK installer, including:
    • SAS course apps
    • How Do I Do This in SAS? apps
    • Brain training apps
    • Puzzles and games apps
  2. Additional email setup may be needed in Windows 11 for the “SAS course” and “How Do I Do This in SAS?” apps, as they use “mailto:” links, which must be associated with an email client.

Holland Numerics Limited celebrated its 30th Anniversary in September 2022

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Way back in September 1992 I was working at CentreFile, a software subsidiary of NatWest Bank. Unfortunately, the financial environment at that time required NatWest Bank to bring much of the outsourcing done within CentreFile back inside the bank, so I was one of the 17% of the IT staff made redundant.

Undeterred I decided to become a freelance SAS programmer and landed a 3-month SAS contract at Janssen Pharmaceutica in Belgium in October 1992, where the financial environment was better. This contract was a fixed price contract for 9 weeks, but I finished all of the expected work in 7 weeks (which didn’t please the client!), so it was agreed that I “work” a further week in Belgium before completing my stay there!

There followed a 14-month contract at Euroclear, a securities bank in Brussels, where I was living in an apartment belonging to a hotel. This is where I really developed my love of finding new beers! I was not the only English-speaking SAS programmer there, as English, Australian and New Zealand programmers were also part of the various teams in Euroclear (and I am still in contact with them), and we would meet on Wednesday evenings for “Contractors Night Out”, starting the evening by watching Star Trek in my apartment (with a Belgian beer from my well-stocked fridge!), and then exploring the vibrant beer and food culture in the centre of Brussels. I will always be grateful for the beers in the supermarket GB Inno that I walked past on my way back to my apartment.

Returning to the UK I then worked on a wide variety of SAS programming contracts between 1994 and 2002, including pharmaceutical development for Glaxo and Praxis, HR systems for Asda and Zurich Insurance, marketing and risk databases for Barclaycard, Pearl Assurance and Ford Credit Bank, and fraud operations for Barclaycard.

My final contract before 9/11 was at Ford Credit Bank, where CNN was shown on screens next to the lifts. We watched in horror as 9/11 evolve in real-time on those screens. The effect on the finance sector was almost immediate, and SAS contracts in banking and insurance became extremely scarce. Fortunately Ford Credit Bank honoured my contract which ended in March 2002. Holland Numerics Limited then spent the rest of 2002 without any significant income, and I was temporarily employed by Bayer Vital in Leverkusen for 3 months later that year.

In 2003 the SAS contract market improved a little and I was able to work on an online campaign manager application for Proximity, before joining the Epidemiology team at GSK until 2005, when I started a 10-year spell at Amgen, where I was mostly involved in observational studies. It was during this period that I discovered the benefit of publishing SAS papers. I had written a paper on how to improve mainframe SAS and DB/2 performance back in 1997, which had been read by someone at the European Patent Office in 2004. They contacted me and I spent several days investigating on-site in The Hague, and then writing and presenting a paper explaining how to fix their problems for their senior management. This included adding a simple sort, which improved the elapsed time of a single step from 7 hours to 3 minutes! The fundamental truth I demonstrated was that developing on a Windows platform was OK, until you involved sorting, which is built into the mainframe operating system.

Following 10 years at Amgen I spent a year at Syne Qua Non, a brief SAS ODS Graphics remote contract with Astellas in Chicago, and then 5 years at Roche, before my current SAS contract with Veramed. This contract actually takes me back to 2002, where I shared an office with the now CEO of Veramed. The take-home from this contract is that you should keep good contacts with all of your business friends, because you never know whether they could help you in the future!

Now why would I be telling you this story about my company? Well, I am approaching retirement (I’m already beyond the statuary retirement age in the UK), but I have a lot of SAS-related knowledge that I am very keen to pass on to younger SAS programmers. My entire collection of SAS conference papers can be freely downloaded from this blog site. Registered members of my blog site can have free access to all the issues of VIEWS News since 1998, as they are stored on my blog site. My SAS licensing depends on earning enough in SAS contract fees to pay for it, so future SAS contracts will be helpful to maintain this site. Finally, if you would like to learn about how to be a good SAS programmer, performance analyst, or graphics designer, then I’ll be happy to spend time helping you (and your colleagues) using my appointment calendar.

I have spent 30 years working for Holland Numerics Limited. How long I continue to work will ultimately depend on you!

SAS course eBook Web Apps have arrived on this Blog Site for Members

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In the past I have written ebook apps on SAS-related topics for webOS, Android and Chrome users, but not everyone has access to these app platforms. However, every member of this blog site, whatever platform they use, has access to a compatible browser for my new ebook web apps, which contain the same content as my previous apps, but run from links on this site.

If you have logged onto the blog site as a Free member, then you will see a new “Informational eBook Web Apps about SAS-related Topics (for Free members)” in the Menu. This will take you to a blog forum landing page for the sample ebook web apps, which will demonstrate their functionality and show you sample topics from the other web apps, where there is a new link at the bottom of the page to the sample SAS course app. Alternatively go to the SAS Skills Discussion Forum:

  • SAS course: SAS Components ==> Sample topics from the other SAS course web apps.

If you have logged onto the blog site as a Programming member, then you will see a new “Informational eBook Web Apps about SAS-related Topics” in the Menu instead. This will take you to a blog forum landing page for the full list of ebook web apps, where there is a new link at the bottom of the page to the new SAS course apps, with the following topic areas, as well as the sample app above. Alternatively go to the SAS Programming Forum:

  • SAS course: Data Step ==> SAS functionality relating to Data Steps.
  • SAS course: PROC SQL ==> SAS functionality relating to PROC SQL.
  • SAS course: SAS Macros ==> SAS functionality relating to macros.

Note that these web apps can only be accessed from these blog forum landing pages, and you must be logged in with the appropriate membership level for that specific forum. Subscription details can be found here.

The SAS Programming Forum has been growing again with new SAS course sections and topics

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The SAS course sections and topics themselves are in the SAS Programming Forum, which can only be accessed by Programming level members, but Free members can read the SAS course – Home page and see the individual section and topic names.

The SAS course and the SAS Programming Forum continue to grow, I have just added some new course sections and topics about Data Steps, Base SAS Procedures, PROC SQL, SAS Macros, SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS Studio, and there are now 54 topics in 7 different sections:

  • A. SAS components – 2 topics
  • B. Data Steps – 14 topics (1 new topic)
  • C. Base SAS Procedures – 6 topics (new section)
  • F. PROC SQL – 15 topics (1 new topic)
  • G. SAS Macros – 15 topics (11 new topics)
  • N. SAS Enterprise Guide – 1 topic (new section)
  • O. SAS Studio – 1 topic (new section)

More topics and sections are being developed, so register for free now to be kept up-to-date about all of the news, so you can take advantage of the Programmer level when it suits you best!

I’ve added the final topic of the SAS Macros course in the SAS course (in the SAS Programming Forum)

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I’ve added the final topic of the SAS Macros course in the SAS course (in the SAS Programming Forum), and it describes some of the syntax used in SAS Macros processing.

I have added, for those who don’t want to follow the course but would prefer to read the course notes, a copy of course notes as a downloadable PDF ebook, and I have now published Android ebook apps with the same content on Google Play and Amazon Appstore.

As other SAS courses are finalised I will be publishing them as PDF ebooks and Android apps too.

Please enjoy if you’ve subscribed to the SAS Programming Forum.

I’ve added 5 more topics to the Macros course in the SAS course (in the SAS Programming Forum)

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I’ve added 5 more topics to the Macros course in the SAS course (in the SAS Programming Forum), and they describe more of the syntax used in SAS macro programming.

I have added, for those who don’t want to follow the course but would prefer to read the course notes, copies of some of the course notes as downloadable PDF ebooks, and I have now published Android ebook apps with the same content on Google Play and Amazon Appstore.

The Macros book and apps will be published after I’ve added the final topic, and as other SAS courses are finalised I will be publishing them as PDF ebooks and Android apps too.

Would you like 1/2 day or 1 day SAS training at PharmaSUG China 2020?

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I was considering attending PharmaSUG China at the end of August 2019, but I’ve been told that a seminar held previously in China on SAS programming efficiency had a low attendance, as programmers there are relatively young, so they like to learn techniques on their own, or take classes on topics that they cannot learn from the internet. However, they prefer challenging topics, which are hard to learn on their own.

I have now decided to delay what could be my one and only visit to China until 2020, and use the extra preparation time to find out a little more about what SAS programmers in China would be most interested in.

Therefore, please could you help me by answering this quick poll about the 1/2 day training sessions I currently provide. The answers will guide me to the best package to offer to PharmaSUG China 2020. Links to most of the training courses can be found below the poll.

If you have not yet voted and can view the poll results, but the Vote button is grey, your IP address may already have been used to vote on this poll. This is in fact quite common when viewing blog posts from a company PC, so I would therefore recommend that you try voting using your phone or your home PC instead.

Thank you in advance………..Phil

I'm planning to go to PharmaSUG China in 2020. Which 1/2 day training courses would you be interested in attending there? (max 2)

  • Efficient SAS Programming (28%, 7 Votes)
  • Defensive SAS Programming (24%, 6 Votes)
  • Introduction to ODS Graph Templates (20%, 5 Votes)
  • SAS PROC SQL (12%, 3 Votes)
  • Enterprise Guide and SAS Studio (8%, 2 Votes)
  • Practical ODS Graphics (8%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 14

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All the PDF course notes for my courses have been moved to Lulu.com

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All the PDF course notes for my courses have been moved to Lulu.com. You can still find links to them on the SAS books page in the Holland Numerics Product Shop, but the links will now send you to my Lulu.com Store, where you can buy the PDF eBooks.

I realise that some blog site visitors do not wish to register on this site, so moving the eBooks to a distributor should make the purchasing a little easier for everyone.

All future PDF course notes will be published directly on Lulu.com.

I’ve added the final topic of the Data Steps course in the SAS course (in the SAS Programming Forum)

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I’ve added the final topic of the Data Steps course in the SAS course (in the SAS Programming Forum), and it describes some of the syntax used in Data Step processing.

I have added, for those who don’t want to follow the course but would prefer to read the course notes, a copy of course notes as a downloadable PDF ebook, and I have now published Android ebook apps with the same content on Google Play and Amazon Appstore.

As other SAS courses are finalised I will be publishing them as PDF ebooks and Android apps too.