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Repeat ( text ; numberOfTimes )

Repeats text number of times

  Average rating: 4.0 (57 votes) Log in to vote

Michael Horak - Show more from this author *COMMENT Visual Realisation

  Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/* Repeat function Repeats text number of times Author *COMMENT Visual Realisation Format Repeat ( text ; numberOfTimes ) Parameters text - any text that also contains a number numberOfTimes - integer Data type returned text Description Repeats text the specified number of times. This simple non-recursive calculation extends the limit of allowable repeats up to 161,999 (with a plain Substitute ( 10^numberOfTimes - 1 ; "9" ; text ) the limit is 404 repeats, while the obvious recursive function would be limited to 10,000 recursions). December 14, 2008 */ Let ( [ a = Div (numberOfTimes; 400 ) ; b = Mod (numberOfTimes; 400 ) ] ; Case ( a ; Substitute ( 10^a - 1 ; [ "9" ; 10^400 - 1 ] ; [ "9" ; text ] ) ) & Case ( b ; Substitute ( 10^b - 1 ; "9" ; text ) ) ) Click to copy

Repeats text the specified number of times.

This simple non-recursive calculation extends the limit of allowable repeats up to 161,999 (with a plain Substitute ( 10^numberOfTimes - 1 ; "9" ; text ) the limit is 404 repeats, while the obvious recursive function would be limited to 10,000 recursions).

 

Comments

		Thomas Seidler, London, UK Jun 27, 2009
For the OCD, here is one that doubles the string each time and uses tail-end recursion... So you have 2^50k repeats possible - ha ha ha!! No point cluttering Brian Dunnings site with another CFunction doing the same thing, so i just add here for the lunatic fringe... It should arrive at your desired length extremely rapidly! It will take decimal numbers and round to nearest letter. /* Repeat ( "abc ; " ; 7 ) => "abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ;" 0 -- "abc ; abc ; " ; 3.5 (_n -2 )/ 2 1 -- "abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; " 1.75 2 -- "abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; abc ; " */ Case ( _n > 2 ; Repeat ( _string & _string ; _n/2 ) ; // now I'm sending a string twice as long, so n is halved _n > 0 ; Left ( _string & _string ; Round ( _n * Length ( _string ) ; 0 ) ) ; // return final result _ ) // end case - 0 or bad _n return empty

		Braxton, Sacramento Mar 29, 2010
Thank you so much for doing and posting this.

		Dan Smith, B.C. Canada Aug 28, 2011
I was curious to know the performace difference between this function and this simple recursive function that produces the similar result: RecursiveRepeat(text;numberOfTimes) If( numberOfTimes > 0 ; text & RepeatB( text ; numberOfTimes - 1 ) ) Comparision of Repeat to RecursiveRepeat for various numberOfTimes values: numberOfTimes comparison to RecursiveRepeat 001 10% slower 002 almost equal 005 160% faster 010 250% faster 100 1600% faster Bottom Line: great custom function Michael!

		Steve Lane, Devon, PA Jan 10, 2013
Some further thoughts on this problem here: http://www.soliantconsulting.com/blog/2013/01/power-division

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