Symptom
- How to replicate a value N number of times?
- How to repeat the same character N number of times?
- Is it possible to print a character, values or database fields multiple times, based on a numeric value from another field in Crystal Reports?
Environment
- Crystal Reports 2008
- SAP Crystal Reports 2011
- SAP Crystal Reports 2013
- SAP Crystal Reports 2016
Resolution
- To manually set the number of times a character, a value, or record to be printed, you can use in a formula the function:
ReplicateString( y, x )
Where 'y' is the string to be replicated, and 'x' is the number of replications. ReplicateString only works on a string or text field.
Below are the general steps on how to create a formula that uses the function ReplicateString:
- In Crystal Reports, create a formula where you declare a numeric variable.
This variable holds the value of the quantity field that determines the how many times to replicate the other string field.
- Still in the same formula, declare a string variable. Assign the string field that is to be repeated to this variable, and if you want, add a Chr(13), which is the ASCII character for carriage return.
- Use the ReplicateString function with the two variables.
- Place this formula where you want to see the repeated fields on the report.
- Format the formula with 'Can Grow', to accommodate the downward movement of the text.
Below is a sample formula:.
NumberVar y := {Table1.Quantity};
StringVar x := {Table1.Name} + chr(13);
ReplicateString (x, y );
If the field to be replicated is not a string field, use the ToText() function to convert it to string.
NumberVar y:= {Table1.Quantity};
StringVar x:=ToText( {Table1.Name})+ chr(13);
ReplicateString (x, y );
To include more fields to the line, assign more fields to the string variable, making sure to add the Chr(13) at the end.
- Note: If the string replication results in more than 64,000 characters, the Crystal Reports Formula Editor will generate this error when checking the formula:
"The number of copies of the string is too large or not an integer."
Enter any numeric values lower than this limit.
Keywords
Repeat, duplicate, CR , KBA , BI-RA-CR , Crystal Reports designer or Business View Manager , How To
Product
Crystal Reports 2008 V1 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2011 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2013 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2016