Looking for something like REGEXP_COUNT function

[Todd Holman 2]

I have a column that I need to count the occurances of a specific text character and then create another column with that count. Perhaps I am missing something simple

[Fabian Duerr]

I think there is no built-in function for this.

 

But you can create your own function using base R following this discussion:

 

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/56759358/how-to-count-string-occurrences-in-another-string-in-base-r

 

Or using str_count() from stringr package. 

 

Where is your "specific text character" coming from Some user input 

[Todd Holman 2]

Thanks I'll look into your suggestions.

The specific text char is always the same ":" It is a deleination between updates. So I am looking for how many updated have occured in this field.

 

Thanks

Todd

[Todd Holman 2]

Wow, Great to know. I got it working following your first suggestion. I had never ventured into this aspect of Spotfire so your examples are extreamly helpful!

Thanks!

Todd

[Fabian Duerr]

Now I had time to do at least the simple stringr solution.

 

Your expression function, let's name it StringCount, should look like this:

 

StringCount <- function(col, pattern){
   return(stringr::str_count(col, pattern))
}
output <- StringCount(pattern = input1, col = input2)

 

After you have registered this expression function you can use it for a calculated column:

 

StringCount(your.pattern, [your.column]])

 

For example: StringCount(":", [ColA])

 

One more edit to this post:

 

If you don't want to create an expression function you can use the following directly in your calculated column:

 

TERR_Integer(
"output <- as.integer(stringr::str_count(input1, input2))",[your.column],"your.pattern"
)