Philip Holland

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/wordpress/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.

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

Paperback book versions of my new books have been published on Lulu.com, which can be purchased at discounted prices until 05Jul2024

I published paperback book versions of my new books, “SAS Programming Experiences: A How-To Guide from a Power SAS User” and a specific extract book about Altair SLC called “Altair SLC: The SAS Language Compiler”, on 21Jun2024.

Note that everything in “Altair SLC: The SAS Language Compiler” is included in “SAS Programming Experiences: A How-To Guide from a Power SAS User”, so purchasing both is not recommended, or necessary.

PDF ebook versions of my new books have been published on Lulu.com, but you can still download them at discounted prices from my blog site

I published PDF ebook versions of my new books, “SAS Programming Experiences: A How-To Guide from a Power SAS User” and a specific extract book about Altair SLC called “Altair SLC: The SAS Language Compiler”, on 13Jun2024.

Until the paperback versions are published on Lulu.com, the PDF ebooks downloaded from my blog site will be discounted, but prices will be adjusted as soon as the paperbacks have been published. This will probably be in early July 2024, after the physical printed proofs have been approved.

Download pre-publication copies of my new books at discounted prices

I have released pre-publication copies of my new books, “SAS Programming Experiences: A How-To Guide from a Power SAS User” and a specific extract book about Altair SLC called “Altair SLC: The SAS Language Compiler”, today.

Note that everything in “Altair SLC: The SAS Language Compiler” is included in “SAS Programming Experiences: A How-To Guide from a Power SAS User”, so purchasing both is not recommended.

Prices will be adjusted as soon as the books are published.

Are you interested in SAS Programming? Will you be near Milwaukee on 26 June 2024? Do you fancy meeting for lunch?

On my way to spend a week on a Great Lakes cruise with my wife from Thursday 27 June 2024, I will be spending a day with LeRoy Bessler in Milwaukee on Wednesday 26 June 2024. We enjoy talking about SAS programming and books, so we will be meeting for an informal lunch in the Lobby Lounge at the Pfister Hotel around 12 midday, and if you would like to join us, then you will be very welcome.

Note that we do need to know whether you will be able to join us, not to order your lunch, as attendees will be expected to buy their own lunches, but to make sure the Lobby Lounge can accommodate everyone expected! Therefore, please email me at books@hollandnumerics.org.uk to confirm your attendance as soon as you can. If a change of venue is necessary, then everyone who has confirmed will be informed in advance, so you will not miss out.

LeRoy published his first book, “Visual Data Insights Using SAS ODS Graphics: A Guide to Communication-Effective Data Visualization”, in 2023, which concentrates on how to create graphs using ODS Graphics to communicate data.

I am desperately trying to publish my new book, “SAS Programming Experiences: A How-To Guide from a Power SAS User”, in time for this lunch, so it can be the official book launch event! I will confirm if this is going to happen closer to the lunch date, and confirmation will mean that my book will be available at a discounted launch price. LeRoy’s book and all of my published books can be bought through my blog site at the Book Table now.

I have been SAS programming for over 40 years, so this book (originally written to be my memoirs!) has 3 distinct sections:

SAS programming methods to make your programs easier to maintain. I like to write my SAS programs where they will cope nicely with any data!!
SAS programming interfaces to improve your programming environment, focusing on how SAS installs and editors have evolved over 40 years, Enterprise Guide, SAS Studio and ODS Graphics.
SAS alternatives, where I compare SAS software with Altair SLC, including how Altair SLC can create graphics and interface to open-source languages like R and Python.

Again, please email me at books@hollandnumerics.org.uk to confirm your attendance as soon as you can.

Thank you in advance!

Free advertising for active recruiters globally! SAS-related Jobs from Recruiters in the UK, Europe, India, Philippines and the USA in April 2024

Looking for a SAS-related job?

There are a number of SAS-related jobs in the SAS Jobs Listing this month in the UK, Europe, India, Philippines and the USA and the links are open to all site visitors:

Country	Jobs Advertised	From Company
Netherlands	SAS RCM/IRM consultant permanent positions	Skywaves Rise
USA	SAS DI developer permanent positions	BECU
Europe	Pharmaceutical contract positions	ClinChoice
Europe	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
UK	Pharmaceutical contract positions	ClinChoice
UK	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
Philippines	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
India	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice

Please use the links in the SAS Jobs Listing to apply for these positions. All recruiters have contact details and links to their web sites on each job post.

Recruiters looking for candidates

I’m always looking for new recruiters to post SAS-related jobs on this site covering India, UK, the Americas (particularly USA), Europe and the Rest of the World.

If you have a regular supply of SAS jobs in any of these regions, then there is a free trial which is open to all recruiters, but with 2 simple rules:

The free trial will be extended by an additional calendar month only when a job is posted, and will expire automatically if no job has been posted in a calendar month.
The posted jobs must be in some way SAS-related.

Please register for Free membership, and then send your jobs to phil@hollandnumerics.org.uk before 02May2024 to be included in this post next month! You will be manually upgraded to a Recruiter member if you’ve never taken part in this free trial before.

The current regional breakdown of registered blog members is as follows, but note that the SAS Jobs Listing is open to all site visitors:

Position	Region	Percentage of Membership	Members
1	Indian Sub-continent	37.6%	150
2	UK	23.1%	92
3	The Americas	22.3%	89
4	Europe	10.5%	42
5	Rest of the World	6.5%	26

VIEWS News 75 (2024Q1) has been published!

VIEWS News issue 75 has now been published.

Supporting all Foundation SAS programmers, this newsletter continues to bring you information to make the most of SAS 9. This newsletter issue includes examples of how to make chloropeth maps using ODS Graphics from LeRoy Bessler, and Richard Carson continues his discussion about configuring of SAS processes without editing them in the fifth and penultimate part of a series of articles about KT. As usual I have publicised some more SAS‑related events for the next few months, and I have also added more SAS formats, options and functions that you may, or may not, have come across before, but you might find interesting, and even useful.

Note that LeRoy Bessler and I will be having an Authors Discussion Lunch in Milwaukee on 26Jun2024, or, more accurately, LeRoy and I will be having lunch in Milwaukee, and you are welcome to join us. A link for more details can be found in the Diary section.

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

I am presenting a Hands-on Tutorial at PharmaSUG 2024 (19-22 May 2024) in Baltimore MD

I am presenting a 1-hour Hands-on Tutorial at PharmaSUG 2024 about defensive SAS programming. The tutorial will actually be in 3 parts:

Defensive SAS Programming – how to program, even if you don’t know exactly what the input data will look like.
Writing Reusable Macros – how to write SAS macros that don’t mess up the rest of your code.
Validating ODS Graphics – how to design the data rendered by ODS Graphics, so your QC programmer can validate the data, instead of trying to match your output.

PharmaSUG 2024 will be held from 19-22 May 2024 in the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, 401 West Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD, USA. I don’t know when I will be presenting yet, but it won’t be on 22 May (the last day of the conference).

I am hoping to have published a new SAS-related book in time for PharmaSUG, which should be available to purchase from me as a paperback or ebook at the conference. It is currently being reviewed.

Finally, and I do mean finally, this will be my last conference representing my company, Holland Numerics Limited, as I will be closing that company at the end of August 2024. After that date I will just be an individual presenter (if anyone really wants me to speak!).

I can also call myself a Presenter at PharmaSUG 2024!

Free advertising for active recruiters globally! SAS-related Jobs from Recruiters in the UK, Europe, India, Philippines and the USA in March 2024

Looking for a SAS-related job?

There are a number of SAS-related jobs in the SAS Jobs Listing this month in the UK, Europe, India, Philippines and the USA and the links are open to all site visitors:

Country	Jobs Advertised	From Company
Netherlands	SAS RCM/IRM consultant permanent positions	Skywaves Rise
USA	SAS DI developer permanent positions	BECU
Europe	Pharmaceutical contract positions	ClinChoice
Europe	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
UK	Pharmaceutical contract positions	ClinChoice
UK	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
Philippines	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
India	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice

Please use the links in the SAS Jobs Listing to apply for these positions. All recruiters have contact details and links to their web sites on each job post.

Recruiters looking for candidates

I’m always looking for new recruiters to post SAS-related jobs on this site covering India, UK, the Americas (particularly USA), Europe and the Rest of the World.

If you have a regular supply of SAS jobs in any of these regions, then there is a free trial which is open to all recruiters, but with 2 simple rules:

The free trial will be extended by an additional calendar month only when a job is posted, and will expire automatically if no job has been posted in a calendar month.
The posted jobs must be in some way SAS-related.

Please register for Free membership, and then send your jobs to phil@hollandnumerics.org.uk before 04Apr2024 to be included in this post next month! You will be manually upgraded to a Recruiter member if you’ve never taken part in this free trial before.

The current regional breakdown of registered blog members is as follows, but note that the SAS Jobs Listing is open to all site visitors:

Position	Region	Percentage of Membership	Members
1	Indian Sub-continent	37.6%	147
2	UK	23.5%	92
3	The Americas	22.5%	88
4	Europe	10.0%	39
5	Rest of the World	6.4%	25

Free advertising for active recruiters globally! SAS-related Jobs from Recruiters in the UK, Europe, India, Philippines and the USA in February 2024

Looking for a SAS-related job?

There are a number of SAS-related jobs in the SAS Jobs Listing this month in the UK, Europe, India, Philippines and the USA and the links are open to all site visitors:

Country	Jobs Advertised	From Company
USA	SAS DI developer permanent positions	BECU
Europe	Pharmaceutical contract positions	ClinChoice
Europe	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
UK	Pharmaceutical contract positions	ClinChoice
UK	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
Philippines	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice
India	Pharmaceutical permanent positions	ClinChoice

Please use the links in the SAS Jobs Listing to apply for these positions. All recruiters have contact details and links to their web sites on each job post.

Recruiters looking for candidates

I’m always looking for new recruiters to post SAS-related jobs on this site covering India, UK, the Americas (particularly USA), Europe and the Rest of the World.

If you have a regular supply of SAS jobs in any of these regions, then there is a free trial which is open to all recruiters, but with 2 simple rules:

The free trial will be extended by an additional calendar month only when a job is posted, and will expire automatically if no job has been posted in a calendar month.
The posted jobs must be in some way SAS-related.

Please register for Free membership, and then send your jobs to phil@hollandnumerics.org.uk before 08Mar2024 to be included in this post next month! You will be manually upgraded to a Recruiter member if you’ve never taken part in this free trial before.

The current regional breakdown of registered blog members is as follows, but note that the SAS Jobs Listing is open to all site visitors:

Position	Region	Percentage of Membership	Members
1	Indian Sub-continent	36.4%	139
2	UK	24.1%	92
3	The Americas	23.0%	88
4	Europe	10.2%	39
5	Rest of the World	6.3%	24

If you think I am a Curious Thinker, then please vote for me in the SAS Customer Recognition Awards

If you think I am a Curious Thinker, then please vote for me in the SAS Customer Recognition Awards. Note that, once you have opened this link, you will need to log in to you SAS Profile to vote by clicking Like! Voting will take place between 22Jan2024 and 02Feb2024. Please do not try to vote after 02Feb2024, as your vote will not be counted.

Here is the link: https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Customer-Recognition-Awards/2024-Customer-Awards-Holland-Numerics-Ltd-Curious-Thinker/cns-p/911492

I first used SAS 79.5 software at the University of London Computer Centre in 1981.

I enjoy helping my clients and encouraging new SAS programmers, but what I still love doing is SAS programming. After over 40 years of SAS programming I can now think in the SAS language, so, if I can sort out a solution to a problem in my head, I am able to write out a rough draft of an entire program!

In 2017 I won the first Lifetime Achievement Award from SAS UK, and my wife congratulated me by saying that it meant that I could retire then. It has taken me 7 years to agree with her, but until then I will still be doing my interim measure of freelance SAS programming!

43 years working with SAS software has been my working lifetime. 43 years working with SAS software has been an achievement, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. The only part I am missing would be an award!? (Maybe?)

Thank you if you do vote for me, and I will forgive you if you do not. 😉

At some point in December 2023 my WordPress Blog Site decided to have an automatic Early Spring Clean!!

Some time in December 2023 the internal WordPress user list became out-of-sync with the Simple Membership list that is used to control access to paid-for features on the site. It has taken me until now to identify, notify and remove from the Simple Membership list those members that are no longer known to WordPress. The estimated membership loss was 480 from a membership total at the beginning of December 2023 of 856!

The regional breakdown of registered blog members at the beginning of December 2023 was as follows:

Position	Region	Percentage of Membership	Members
1	Indian Sub-continent	36.9%	313
2	The Americas	22.8%	193
3	UK	19.6%	166
4	Europe	14.2%	120
5	Rest of the World	6.6%	56

Now the regional breakdown of registered blog members looks like this:

Position	Region	Percentage of Membership	Members
1	Indian Sub-continent	35.7%	134
2	UK	24.5%	92
3	The Americas	23.2%	87
4	Europe	10.1%	38
5	Rest of the World	6.4%	24

There are a number of reasons why the specific members may have been retained or lost, but I can’t confirm or refute these theories:

Only 6 of 480 members lost had registered for VIEWS UK forum access.
Most of the retained members regularly visit the site.
UK and The Americas have a bigger share of the members, and UK has overtaken The Americas (probably because VIEWS UK access is more prevalent in UK members!).
All of the shares of the other regions have decreased.

As a consequence, all new members are automatically given access to the VIEWS UK forum, where the VIEWS newsletter can be found.