The SSIS REPLICATE function will replicate or duplicate a string or character expression to the given number of times mentioned in the second argument. This article explains how to use the REPLICATE function with an example and the syntax for duplicating the string multiple times is as shown below.
REPLICATE(<<Character_expression>>, <<times>>)
To demonstrate the String REPLICATE function, we use the Employee table below, which has 15 records. Please refer to the Union All Transformation, Derived Column Transformation, Built-in Functions, and SQL Server articles in SSIS.
SSIS String REPLICATE function
For this string replication, add a Data Flow Task and double-click on it to enter the Data Flow region. Next, add the OLE DB Source to read data from the above SQL database table. Please join the OLE DB Source to Derived Column Transformation to write REPLICATE expressions and create new columns.
Next, double-click on it to open the Derived Column Transformation Editor. Drag and drop the SSIS function to the row cell under the Expression, replace the Character_expression with the string column (Occupation), and set the times to 2 to replicate the Occupation multiple times. Either you can manually delete the complete expression or drag and drop the Occupation column will automatically replace it.
REPLICATE( "Hi", 3 ) - Repeat Hi for three times.
REPLICATE( [Occupation], 2 ) - Repeat employee occupation for two times.
Click OK to close the Editor window.
Drag and drop the Union All Transformation and connect the Derived Column to it. Next, right-click on the connection node and choose the Enable Data Viewer. Please run the string REPLICATE function package to see the Hi word and Occupation repeated multiple times.
