MySQL - REPEAT() Function

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The MySQL REPEAT() function is used to repeat the input string a specified number of times.

This function accepts two parameters: the first parameter will be the string that has to be repeated, and the second parameter will be a number (say N), where we specify the number of times the input string should be repeated.

If we pass NULL to either of the function parameters, it returns NULL as result. If we specify a value less than 1 in the second parameter of the function, it returns an empty string.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of MySQL REPEAT() function −

REPEAT(string, number)

Parameters

This function takes a string value and count as parameter.

Return Value

This function returns a new string consisting of the input string repeated the specified number of times.

Example

In the following example, the string 'Hello ' is repeated five times using the REPEAT() function−

SELECT REPEAT('Hello ', 5);

Following is the output of the above code −

REPEAT('Hello ', 5)
Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello

Example

If any of the arguments passed to the function is NULL, it returns NULL −

SELECT REPEAT('Tutorialspoint ', NULL);

The output obtained is as follows −

REPEAT('Tutorialspoint ', NULL)
NULL

Example

You can also pass numerical values as the first argument to this function −

SELECT REPEAT(25547, 3);

We get the output as follows −

REPEAT(25547, 3)
255472554725547

Example

If the given number is less than 1, this function returns an empty string −

SELECT REPEAT('Tutorialspoint ', -3);

Following is the output of the above code −

REPEAT('Tutorialspoint ', -3)

Example

The following query repeats an empty string four times, and returns an empty string as a result −

SELECT REPEAT('', 4);

The result produced is as shown below −

REPEAT('', 4)

Example

You can also pass column name of a table as an argument to this function.

Let us create a table named "EMP" and insert records into it using CREATE and INSERT statements as shown below −

CREATE TABLE EMP(
   FIRST_NAME  CHAR(20) NOT NULL,
   LAST_NAME  CHAR(20),
   AGE INT,
   INCOME FLOAT
);

Now, let us insert records into it using the INSERT statement −

INSERT INTO EMP VALUES 
('Krishna', 'Sharma', 19, 2000),
('Raj', 'Kandukuri', 20, 7000),
('Ramya', 'Ramapriya', 25, 5000),
('Mac', 'Mohan', 26, 2000);

The EMP obtained is as follows −

FIRST_NAME	LAST_NAME	AGE	INCOME
Krishna	Sharma	19	2000
Raj	Kandukuri	20	7000
Ramya	Ramapriya	25	5000
Mac	Mohan	26	2000

Following query repeat the contents of the column 'FIRST_NAME' three times using the REPEAT() function −

SELECT FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, AGE, REPEAT(FIRST_NAME, 3) as Result 
FROM EMP;

Output

After executing the above code, we get the following output −

FIRST_NAME	LAST_NAME	AGE	Result
Krishna	Sharma	19	KrishnaKrishnaKrishna
Raj	Kandukuri	20	RajRajRaj
Ramya	Ramapriya	25	RamyaRamyaRamya
Mac	Mohan	26	MacMacMac