graphics – Holland Numerics: Blog and Forums

VIEWS News 82 (2026Q2/3) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 82 has now been published.

This newsletter is the home of Foundation SAS and brings you information about making the most of SAS 9 and Altair SLC. This newsletter issue includes an article from LeRoy Bessler about Donut Charts, Anders Sköllermo discusses quantiles for very large data sets, and there will be a launch of 3 Altair SLC books in Hamburg on 20Aug2026 and you are welcome to join the authors at lunchtime. As usual I have publicised some SAS‑related events for the next few months, and I have also added some more SAS formats, options and functions that you may or may not have come across before, but you might find interesting, and even useful.

If you would like to contribute an article, to re-visit and improve an existing article, or just discuss the possibility of doing so, please feel free to send an email to me at view-uk@hollandnumerics.org.uk or phil@hollandnumerics.org.uk. Publication deadlines are the 14th day of February, May, August and November each year.

To be able to read this and all previous issues you will need to follow these steps:

If you have not already registered on this blog site, go to blog.hollandnumerics.org.uk and register for free membership.
Once successfully registered, click the menu item [Subscriptions for Forums and Features] > [Request access to the VIEWS UK forum] to request free access to the VIEWS UK forum, then add your name and email address to the form before clicking [Send].
On receipt of a request for an existing blog member I will register them for free access to the VIEWS UK forum, and then send them an email to confirm this.
The next time they log onto the blog site they will see VIEWS UK in the forum list, where you will find the latest issue of VIEWS News, forum topics to find the backissues, functions and formats in every published issue, and a tag cloud covering every forum on the site to which you have access, including VIEWS UK and the VIEWS News issues.
They will also be automatically informed of any VIEWS UK updates.

Enjoy!……………..Phil

Planning for a new SLC book is on-going, but which graphs should it include?

To map our graph list onto CDISC ADaM structures for the dummy-data examples, here’s what is proposed for each:

Kaplan-Meier survival curves — ADTTE
Forest plots (subgroup / hazard ratio summaries) — ADTTE + ADSL
Waterfall plots (best % change from baseline) — ADTR / ADRS
Spider / spaghetti plots (individual subject profiles) — ADLB / ADVS / ADTR / ADQS
Swimmer plots (treatment duration and response) — ADSL + ADEX + ADRS
Bar charts (AE incidence, demographics, treatment summaries) — ADAE + ADSL
Linear/line plots by treatment (mean response over time) — ADEFF / ADLB / ADVS / ADQS
Mean ± SE/SD over time (labs, vital signs, efficacy, PRO scores) — ADLB / ADVS / ADEFF / ADQS
Box plots and shift plots (labs by visit/treatment) — ADLB
Adverse event incidence and patient-profile timeline plots — ADAE (with ADCM/ADEX for full profiles)
PK concentration-time profiles — ADPC (and ADPP for derived PK parameters)
Linear/Semi-log plots over time (labs, vital signs) — ADLB / ADVS

Can you suggest any other graphs, or graphs in this list that you don’t need?

Pablo Orosco Joerger and I are planning to use the Pharmaverse ADaM data sets for all of these plots.

Please share views in your comments.

Saving money buying books directly from the publisher and this blog site (updated 22Jul2026)

The book prices shown below were correct at time of writing, but should be verified before purchasing. All books can be purchased using links from this blog site at The Book Table.

Note that Amazon is convenient, but usually more expensive, so you will pay more there, and authors will receive lower royalty payments. It is, of course, your choice, but please support independent authors by buying their books on publisher sites, or directly from their blog sites, and save money at the same time!

Publisher Title Format	Amazon price £	Publisher price £	Blog price £
Out of print
Saving Time and Money Using SAS (2007)
PDF ebook	—	—	7.50
Lulu.com
Power User’s Guide to SAS Programming (2011)
PDF ebook	—	3.75	3.00
Power User’s Guide to SAS Graph Templates (2013)
PDF ebook	—	3.75	3.00
Apress
SAS Programming and Data Visualization Techniques (2015)
Paperback(b)	48.99	49.99	—
ebook (various)	46.54	39.99	—
Lulu.com
SAS Programming Experiences, 2nd Edition (2025)
Paperback (Amazon 60gsm, Publisher 80gsm)	37.47	23.85	—
PDF ebook	—	7.50	7.00
Altair SLC, 2nd Edition (2025)
Paperback(b) (Amazon 60gsm, Publisher 80gsm)	21.54	14.01	—
PDF ebook	—	5.50	5.00
Advanced Altair SLC, 2026 Edition (2026)
Paperback(b) (Amazon 60gsm, Publisher 80gsm)	—	18.34	—
PDF ebook	—	7.66	6.50(a), 7.00
Altair SLC for Business Users, 2026 Edition (2026)
Paperback(b) (Amazon 60gsm, Publisher 80gsm)	—	18.21	—
PDF ebook	—	7.66	6.50(a), 7.00
Altair SLC for Companies, 2026 Edition (2026)
Paperback(b) (Amazon 60gsm, Publisher 80gsm)	—	15.34	—
PDF ebook	—	—	6.50(a), 7.00

(a) sale price until 31Jul2026

(b) Note that Amazon paperbacks are printed on 60gsm paper to reduce the prices, whereas Publisher paperbacks use 80gsm for higher quality printing. This is a deliberate choice, otherwise Amazon prices would be about 2x Publisher prices if they used 80gsm paper.

My paperback books now have permanently lower prices on Lulu.com than on Amazon!

Since November 2025 I have been reducing the prices of my paperbacks on Lulu.com in “odd” months, because I felt that the price hiking used by Amazon and other resellers was unfair to both my readers and me.

I have now found a way to permanently reduce the prices on Lulu.com by creating duplicate book projects, one for resellers only and the other just for Lulu.com. The book contents are identical, but the Lulu.com only versions will be printed on heavier paper (80gsm) and priced lower. The reseller versions will still be printed on 60gsm paper.

Book title	Amazon and other resellers	Lulu.com only
SAS Programming Experiences, 278 pages	60gsm paper, £37.73	80gsm paper, £23.32
Altair SLC, 112 pages	60gsm paper, £21.08	80gsm paper, £13.76

So which version would be the best choice for you?

VIEWS News 81 (2026Q1) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 81 has now been published.

This newsletter is the home of Foundation SAS and brings you information about making the most of SAS 9 and Altair SLC. This newsletter issue includes an article from LeRoy Bessler about distorted 3D pie charts, and we welcome a new VIEWS Consultant, Pablo Orosco Joerger, with an article about integrating SAS and R programming languages in Altair SLC. As usual I have publicised some SAS-related events for the next few months, and I have also added some more SAS formats, options and functions that you may or may not have come across before, but you might find interesting, and even useful.

To be able to read this and all previous issues you will need to follow these steps:

If you have not already registered on this blog site, go to blog.hollandnumerics.org.uk and register for free membership.
Once successfully registered, click the menu item [Subscriptions for Forums and Features] > [Request access to the VIEWS UK forum] to request free access to the VIEWS UK forum, then add your name and email address to the form before clicking [Send].
On receipt of a request for an existing blog member I will register them for free access to the VIEWS UK forum, and then send them an email to confirm this.
The next time they log onto the blog site they will see VIEWS UK in the forum list, where you will find the latest issue of VIEWS News, forum topics to find the backissues, functions and formats in every published issue, and a tag cloud covering every forum on the site to which you have access, including VIEWS UK and the VIEWS News issues.
They will also be automatically informed of any VIEWS UK updates.

Enjoy!……………..Phil

VIEWS News 80 (2025Q3/Q4) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 80 has now been published.

This newsletter is the home of Foundation SAS and brings you information about making the most of SAS 9 and Altair SLC. This bumper issue includes articles from this year’s August and November issues, which have been combined due to holidays and illness, after my retirement in April 2025, delayed publication until now. This newsletter issue includes 2 articles from LeRoy Bessler about improving time series or trend graphs and vertical bar charts, and I have contributed a Workflow tip from an upcoming book about Altair SLC. My 2nd Editions of my “SAS Programming Experiences” and “Altair SLC” paperbacks are now available on Amazon and other resellers, but please read my article to get copies at the best available prices. As usual I have publicised some SAS-related events for the next few months, and I have also added some more SAS formats, options and functions that you may or may not have come across before, but you might find interesting, and even useful.

To be able to read this and all previous issues you will need to follow these steps:

If you have not already registered on this blog site, go to blog.hollandnumerics.org.uk and register for free membership.
Once successfully registered, click the menu item [Subscriptions for Forums and Features] > [Request access to the VIEWS UK forum] to request free access to the VIEWS UK forum, then add your name and email address to the form before clicking [Send].
On receipt of a request for an existing blog member I will register them for free access to the VIEWS UK forum, and then send them an email to confirm this.
The next time they log onto the blog site they will see VIEWS UK in the forum list, where you will find the latest issue of VIEWS News, forum topics to find the backissues, functions and formats in every published issue, and a tag cloud covering every forum on the site to which you have access, including VIEWS UK and the VIEWS News issues.
They will also be automatically informed of any VIEWS UK updates.

Enjoy!……………..Phil

VIEWS News 79 (2025Q2) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 79 has now been published.

This newsletter is the home of Foundation SAS and brings you information about making the most of SAS 9 and Altair SLC. This issue is another one that has been delayed, but this time due to software issues on my blog server, which have now been resolved. This newsletter issue includes an updated InfoGeographic map from LeRoy Bessler, and I have discovered a database of pirated books and papers and written an open letter to Meta, who used it to train its AI assistant. I have also published a 2nd Edition of my “SAS Programming Experiences” and “Altair SLC” paperbacks and ebooks, which include the updates found in Altair SLC 2025, and have explained how to get copies at the best available prices. As usual I have publicised some SAS‑related events for the next few months, and I have also added some more SAS formats, options and functions that you may or may not have come across before, but you might find interesting, and even useful.

To be able to read this and all previous issues you will need to follow these steps:

If you have not already registered on this blog site, go to blog.hollandnumerics.org.uk and register for free membership.
Once successfully registered, click the menu item [Subscriptions for Forums and Features] > [Request access to the VIEWS UK forum] to request free access to the VIEWS UK forum, then add your name and email address to the form before clicking [Send].
On receipt of a request for an existing blog member I will register them for free access to the VIEWS UK forum, and then send them an email to confirm this.
The next time they log onto the blog site they will see VIEWS UK in the forum list, where you will find the latest issue of VIEWS News, forum topics to find the backissues, functions and formats in every published issue, and a tag cloud covering every forum on the site to which you have access, including VIEWS UK and the VIEWS News issues.
They will also be automatically informed of any VIEWS UK updates.

Enjoy!……………..Phil

VIEWS News 78 (2025Q1) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 78 has now been published.

To be able to read this and all previous issues you will need to follow these steps:

If you have not already registered on this blog site, go to blog.hollandnumerics.org.uk and register for free membership.
Once successfully registered, click the menu item [Subscriptions for Forums and Features] > [Request access to the VIEWS UK forum] to request free access to the VIEWS UK forum, then add your name and email address to the form before clicking [Send].
On receipt of a request for an existing blog member I will register them for free access to the VIEWS UK forum, and then send them an email to confirm this.
The next time they log onto the blog site they will see VIEWS UK in the forum list, where you will find the latest issue of VIEWS News, forum topics to find the backissues, functions and formats in every published issue, and a tag cloud covering every forum on the site to which you have access, including VIEWS UK and the VIEWS News issues.
They will also be automatically informed of any VIEWS UK updates.

Enjoy!……………..Phil

VIEWS News 77 (2024Q3/Q4) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 77 has now been published.

This newsletter is the home of Foundation SAS and brings you information about making the most of SAS 9 and Altair SLC. This issue has been delayed, because I under-estimated how much effort organising my significant birthday celebrations would take!. It will, therefore, cover Q3 and Q4 of 2024. This newsletter issue includes a macro that everybody needs to know for categorical data with a group variable from LeRoy Bessler, and Richard Carson gives us 2 useful tips. As usual I have publicised some SAS-related events for the next few months, and I have also added some more SAS formats, options and functions that you may or may not have come across before, but you might find interesting, and even useful.

To be able to read this and all previous issues you will need to follow these steps:

If you have not already registered on this blog site, go to blog.hollandnumerics.org.uk and register for free membership.
Once successfully registered, click the menu item [Subscriptions for Forums and Features] > [Request access to the VIEWS UK forum] to request free access to the VIEWS UK forum, then add your name and email address to the form before clicking [Send].
On receipt of a request for an existing blog member I will register them for free access to the VIEWS UK forum, and then send them an email to confirm this.
The next time they log onto the blog site they will see VIEWS UK in the forum list, where you will find the latest issue of VIEWS News, forum topics to find the backissues, functions and formats in every published issue, and a tag cloud covering every forum on the site to which you have access, including VIEWS UK and the VIEWS News issues.
They will also be automatically informed of any VIEWS UK updates.

Enjoy!……………..Phil

Looking for a book about SAS programming? This may be where you will find it!

ebooks sold on reseller sites often have unnecessary price mark-ups, so I prefer to provide ebook downloads directly from my blog site at reduced prices, where I get more income too, so it is a win-win situation for author and reader! Plus, there are 3 downloads allowed, so new editions can be downloaded later.

Note that all paperbacks that can be ordered from Lulu support this open-source publisher, and give the maximum income to the author. Paperback resellers, rather than publishers, like Amazon and Apple Books, are only really interested in their profits, so authors often get short-changed!

The following books written by Philip R Holland are available through this blog site. Click the price links for more information:

Title	Paperback price (GBP)	*ebook price (GBP)**	Download price (GBP)	Pages
“SAS Programming Experiences” (2024)	£18.25	£7.50 (PDF)	£7.00 (PDF)	270
“Altair SLC” (2024)	£10.25	£5.50 (PDF)	£5.00 (PDF)	104
“SAS Programming and Data Visualization Techniques” (2015)	around £45, but prices can vary across reseller platforms	around £40 (Kindle, PDF, ePub), but prices can vary across reseller platforms		245
“Power User’s Guide to SAS Graph Templates” (2013)		£3.75 (PDF)	£3.00 (PDF)	109
“Power User’s Guide to SAS Programming” (2011)		£3.50 (PDF) £3.00 (ePub)	£3.00 (PDF)	90
“Saving Time and Money using SAS” (2007)			£7.50 (PDF)	242

* Please note that code can only be copied from PDF ebooks!

Check out the Book Table to see all of the books about SAS programming there.

VIEWS News 76 (2024Q2) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 76 has now been published.

This newsletter is the home of Foundation SAS and brings you information about making the most of SAS 9. This newsletter issue includes a macro that makes controlling graph text characteristics easy from LeRoy Bessler, Richard Carson completes his discussion about configuring of SAS processes without editing them in the sixth part of a series of articles about KT, and I have to admit that I delayed the publication of this newsletter to tell you about my 2 new books, which were finally published on 21Jun2024 (see https://hollandnumerics.org.uk/book-table/). As usual I have publicised some SAS‑related events for the next few months, and I have also added some more SAS formats, options and functions that you may or may not have come across before, but you might find interesting, and even useful.

To be able to read this and all previous issues you will need to follow these steps:

If you have not already registered on this blog site, go to blog.hollandnumerics.org.uk and register for free membership.
Once successfully registered, click the menu item [Subscriptions for Forums and Features] > [Request access to the VIEWS UK forum] to request free access to the VIEWS UK forum, then add your name and email address to the form before clicking [Send].
On receipt of a request for an existing blog member I will register them for free access to the VIEWS UK forum, and then send them an email to confirm this.
The next time they log onto the blog site they will see VIEWS UK in the forum list, where you will find the latest issue of VIEWS News, forum topics to find the backissues, functions and formats in every published issue, and a tag cloud covering every forum on the site to which you have access, including VIEWS UK and the VIEWS News issues.
They will also be automatically informed of any VIEWS UK updates.

Enjoy!……………..Phil