RPAD: Right-Padding a Character String

How to:

Reference:

RPAD uses a specified character and output length to return a character string padded on the right with that character.

Syntax: How to Pad a Character String on the Right 

RPAD(string, out_length, pad_character)

where:

string

Alphanumeric

Is a string to pad on the right side.

out_length

Integer

Is the length of the output string after padding.

pad_character

Alphanumeric

Is a single character to use for padding.

Example: Right-Padding a String

In the following request against the WF_RETAIL data source, RPAD right-pads the PRODUCT_CATEGORY column with @ symbols: 

DEFINE FILE WF_RETAIL
RPAD1/A25 = RPAD(PRODUCT_CATEGORY,25,'@');
DIG1/A4 = DIGITS(ID_PRODUCT,4);
END
TABLE FILE WF_RETAIL
SUM DIG1 RPAD1
BY PRODUCT_CATEGORY
ON TABLE SET PAGE NOPAGE
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE=DATA,FONT=COURIER,SIZE=11,COLOR=BLUE,$
END

The output is:

Reference: Usage Notes for RPAD

  • The input string can be data type AnV, VARCHAR, TX, and An.
  • Output can only be AnV or An.
  • When working with relational VARCHAR columns, there is no need to trim trailing spaces from the field if they are not desired. However, with An and AnV fields derived from An fields, the trailing spaces are part of the data and will be included in the output, with the padding being placed to the right of these positions. You can use TRIM or TRIMV to remove these trailing spaces prior to applying the RPAD function.