is a powerful feature-rich that can make your work with code faster and more efficient. It comes with a variety of built-in functions that simplify everyday actions ( ). Vim text editor : help builtin We'll look into one of them: the built-in function ( ) that repeats an expression a specified number of times and returns a concatenated result. repeat : help repeat It has the following syntax: repeat({expr}, {count}) We will look into 2 important cases where the function may come in handy: repeat() in the Command Line repeat() in Insert Mode Repeat in the Command Line Let's see how to use the function in the context of variables in the command line. repeat() :let separator = repeat('-', 100) # set the variable
:echo separator                   # echoes separator When an expression is a List, it's concatenated a specified number of times: :let names = repeat(['michael', 'joseph'], 3) # expr is a list
:echo names                                   # echoes names The function can also be used as a method: :echo [1, 2, 3]->repeat(2)                 # use repeat as a method If you have some data you need to insert that is stored in variables, you may use to insert them after the cursor ( ) :put :help :put :let names = repeat(['michael', 'joseph'], 3)
:put =names->string() I’d like to point out that we’ve transformed the result into string names to insert it as a list in one line. ->string() If you remove , each item of the list will be on a separate line. ->string() Repeat in Insert Mode While working with code, we often need to repeat some expressions or fill in structures with some data. Let's see how we can use . When you are in Insert Mode: repeat() in Insert Mode <C-r>=repeat('[]', 10)<CR> It means:  Press Ctrl-r, type =repeat('[]', 10), Pres Enter We’ve added and stayed in Insert Mode. '[][][][][][][][][][]' repeat(range(5), 3)->string() # repeats [0, 1, 2, 3, 4] three times
string(repeat(range(5), 3))   # use built-in string() repeat(tempname() . ': ', 3)->string()

tempname() # generates a temporary file name that doesn't exist
.  		   # concatenate two strings The built-in makes working with the code quick and convenient, especially in Insert Mode. It saves us from switching between different modes, which increases the overall flow's speed. Thanks to a variety of built-in functions in Vim, you can generate data of various types for in a wide range. Put the function into action, and make your life easier. repeat() {expr}

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Understanding the Vim. Repeat Function

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Understanding the Vim. Repeat Function

Too Long; Didn't Read

Andrei Smykov

About Author

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THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

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