REPT
Build a string by repeating another one.
Syntax
REPT(text, number_times)| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
text | Required | The text to repeat. |
number_times | Required | How many times to repeat it. |
Examples
Every example below was executed against VisiGrid engine 0.35.0 — not
transcribed from another vendor's documentation. Reproduce any of them with vgrid calc.
| Formula | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
=REPT("ab",3) | ababab | |
=REPT("0",3) | 000 | |
=RIGHT(REPT("0",3)&"7",3) | 007 | The standard zero-padding pattern. |
Zero-padding, because TEXT cannot yet
Fixed-width identifiers — 007, 0042 — are normally written
TEXT(7,"000") in Excel. VisiGrid’s TEXT does not implement leading-zero
format codes yet, so the portable construction is:
=RIGHT(REPT("0", 3) & A1, 3)Pad generously on the left, then take the rightmost n. It works in every
spreadsheet, and it will keep working when TEXT catches up.
Worth knowing that the result is text, not a number with leading zeros —
there is no such thing. A cell showing 007 is either text or a number with a
display format, and this produces the former.
In-cell bar charts
REPT with a block character makes a crude bar chart that needs no chart at
all: =REPT("█", A1/100). Useful in a table where a real chart would be
overkill, and it survives being exported to CSV.
Excel compatibility
Matches Excel.