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--- syntax:functions:padstart [2016/06/20 11:42] – created dmitry
+++ syntax:functions:padstart [2021/08/14 22:20] (current) – [Examples] craigt
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-===== PadStart(text, character, number) =====
+====== PadStart(text, pad_char, total_len) ======
+Category:  Text function
-Pads the beginning of //text// with //character// up to total width defined by //number//.
+\\
+=====Description=====
+This function pads the beginning of //text// with //pad_char// up to a total length defined by //total_len//.
-^  Example  ^  Result  ^
+\\
-| padstart('99', '0', 5)  | 00099  |
+=====Use cases=====
+This function is useful for creating text values from numbers that require leading zeros.
+Create fixed width datasets by padding blank spaces to the front of values in each column.
-=== See also ===
+\\
-  * [[syntax:functions:padend]]
+=====Arguments=====
+^Argument^Type^Description^
+|text|Text|The text value to be padded.|
+|pad_char|Text (a single character)|The character to append to the start of //text// repeatedly until the total string length of //total_len// is reached.|
+|total_len|Number|The total length of the result string including //text// plus all repeated instances of //pad_text//.|
+**Return value type:** Text
+\\
+=====Remarks=====
+//text// and //pad_char// are implicitly converted to text values if required.
+Entering a value for //pad_char// longer than a single character results in an error message.
+Entering a value for //total_len// equal to or less than the length of //text// simply returns the value of //text//.
+\\
+=====Examples=====
+  padstart('99', '0', 5) //Returns '00099'
+  padstart('1000', '0', 3) //Returns '1000'  (Result length entered (3) is less than the length of '1000' (4))
+\\
+Create a fixed-width dataset from [Col1], [Col2] and [Col3] where [Col1] must be 5 characters wide, [Col2] must be 20 characters wide, and [Col3] must be 12 characters wide:
+  padstart([Col1], ' ', 5)
+  padstart([Col2], ' ', 20)
+  padstart([Col3], ' ', 12)
+\\
+===== See also =====
+  * [[syntax:functions:padend|PadEnd(text, pad_char, total_len)]]