Roland <roland.rashleigh-berry@VIRGIN.NET> wrote [in part]: > I've been working solidly learning Visual Basic (actually VB5 since I > already have the learning edition and the CD Rom tutorial is excellent). So > far I believe it will indeed be possible to replace SAS with VB (so long as > it runs under the right operating system), using Access as the native > database.

For the most part. You could even write it in Python or Perl, using, say, MySQL as the database, and have it run *everywhere*. For free. With no run-time to sweat over.

> I think rewriting the stats procedures will be a doddle so long as > the formulae are known (which they must be).

Supposedly. But, in fact, most of what I want SAS for is not a 'simple formula'. You can write the formula down for the least-squares solution of a mixed model, but it is in matrix algebra and requires decent matrix manipulation routines. Which VB is still lacking. [At least Perl now has a decent - and fast - matrix module, even if I have not been able to get it compiled on win32 boxen.] Or iterative solution systems. Or proper estimation of points off statistical distributions, with or without non-centrality paramaters. Or...

Well, you get my drift.

> And these could be tested and > validated among the pharmaceutical companies and distributed free between > them.

Now *that* would be good. Validated components like that would be excellent.

> I would say that given the will to do it and the time then this > could be done.

I agree. But those are fairly large givens.

David -- David Cassell, CSC Cassell.David@epa.gov Senior computing specialist mathematical statistician