REPEAT Function

Repeats a string a specified number of times. The string can be specified as a String literal, a function returning a String, or a column reference.

Since theREPEAT function matches based on fixed numeric values, changes to the length or structure of a data field can cause your recipe to fail to properly execute.
The REPEAT function requires an integer value for the number of characters to match.

Wrangle vs. SQL: This function is part of Wrangle, a proprietary data transformation language. Wrangle is not SQL. For more information, see Wrangle Language.

Basic Usage

String literal example:

repeat('ha',3)

Output: Returns the string: hahaha.

Column reference example:

repeat(MyString,4)

Output: Returns the values of the MyString column value written four times in a row.

Syntax and Arguments

repeat(column_string,rpt_count)

Argument	Required?	Data Type	Description
column_string	Y	string	Name of the column or string literal to be applied to the function
rpt_count	N	integer (positive)	Count of times to repeat the string

For more information on syntax standards, see Language Documentation Syntax Notes.

column_string

Name of the column or String literal to be repeated.

Missing string or column values generate missing string results.
String constants must be quoted ('Hello, World').
Multiple columns and wildcards are not supported.

Usage Notes:

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
Yes	String literal, function, or column reference	myColumn

rpt_count

Count of times to repeat the string.

If the value is not specified, the default is 1.
Value must a non-negative integer.
References to columns of integer data type are not supported.

Usage Notes:

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
No	Integer (non-negative)	5

Examples

Tip

For additional examples, see Common Tasks.

Example - REPEAT string function

Source:

myStr	repeat_count
ha	0
ha	1
ha	1.5
ha	2
ha	-2

Transformation:

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	repeat(myStr,repeat_count)
Parameter: New column name	'repeat_string'

Results:

myStr	repeat_count	repeat_string
ha	0
ha	1	ha
ha	1.5
ha	2	haha
ha	-2

Example - Padding values

In the following example, the imported prodId values are supposed to be eight characters in length. Somewhere during the process, however, leading 0 characters were truncated. The steps below allow you to re-insert the leading characters.

Source:

prodName	prodId
w01	1
w02	10000001
w03	345
w04	10402

Transformation:

First, we need to identify how many zeroes need to be inserted for each prodId:

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	8 - len(prodId)
Parameter: New column name	'len_prodId'

Use the REPEAT function to generate a pad string based on the above values:

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	repeat('0', len_prodId)
Parameter: New column name	'padString'

Merge the pad string and the original prodId column:

Transformation Name	`Merge columns`
Parameter: Columns	padString,prodId
Parameter: Separator	''
Parameter: New column name	'column2'