Data Transformation Engine Functions and Expressions Reference Guide

Chapter 3 - Function Reference CLONE

Functions and Expressions Reference Guide

CLONE

The CLONE function creates a specified number of copies of some object.

Syntax

CLONE (single-object-name , single-integer-expression )

Meaning

CLONE (object_to_copy , number_of_copies)

Returns

This function returns a series-object.

The

CLONE function returns a series of the object specified by object_to_copy.

The output series consists of as many copies of the object as specified by

number_of_copies. The value of each member of the resulting output series is

the same as object_to_copy.

Examples

For this example, your input contains an object named Detail Row that has a

Quantity item component. You want to create multiple Line Item Segments

for every Detail Row in your input, based on the value of Quantity. So, if

Quantity has the value 5, you want to build 5 Line Item Segments for that

Detail Row. Use the

CLONE function, as in:

LineItem Segment (s) = LotsOf ( CLONE ( Detail Row ,

Quantity:Detail Row ) )

Uses

The

CLONE function is useful when the number of output objects to be built

depends on a data value, rather than the number of objects that exist in the

data.