SAS Server Pages were first introduced in Building Web Applications with SAS/IntrNet: A Guide to the Application Dispatcher using a DATA step to process them. PROC STREAM provides more robust support for SAS Server Pages and significantly expands SAS’ facilities for dynamic content generation.

SAS Server Pages are the Lego pieces, Lincoln Logs for the older among us, that can be used by PROC STREAM to build custom reports, user interfaces and more. My new eBook SAS Server Pages: Generating Dynamic Content provides insights and examples on what you, a SAS programmer, can do with PROC STREAM. It is currently available from the Apple Store and Google Play —and we hope to have a Kindle version available later.

For example, in Chapter 2, an overview is provided of what I call the Portal Reporting Framework, an application framework built on the foundation of SAS Server Pages and PROC STREAM. Recognizing that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a thousand pictures, the e-Book only format of this book includes a number of embedded videos to show how to use these tools. For example, this is a short demo of the Portal Reporting Framework included in Chapter 2 (the video can also be found on my Author Page). See my blog posting for more details about the Portal Reporting Framework.

Another advantage of the e-book only format of this e-book is that the content can be easily expanded discussed via links to blog entries. In this book there are lots of examples with lots of possible variations of what can be done. They all can’t be described in one book (even if I, the author, or the reviewers, could think of them all). That is why many of the examples in the book have links to lists (using search) of blog entries on my blog Jurassic SAS® in the BI/EBI World, that allow me to expand upon the examples, including feedback from readers.

Now, I know that some of you are thinking, yea, but things change and links sometime break. But again, the e-Book format comes to the rescue. Under the covers in the book the links are actually short URLs. If someone finds that the target of that short URL is no longer available or broken, once known, it can be fixed. And voila, things work without have to deal with errata, updates, and so on.

I hope everyone reading this starts to follow my blog, Jurassic SAS® in the BI/EBI World, where I will continue to discuss what can be done with PROC STREAM and SAS Server Pages.