@Len, the problem is that the performer won't know whether the sign x3 written at the end of the repeated section means "play 3 times" or "repeat 3 times". It could mean either, so therefore you can not say that either way is correct.
Your computer program is obviously programmed to treat one way as correct, but that won't help if musicians don't regard it that way. Some people even gets confused when you say "repeat 3 times" and think it means play 3 times, so they missed that the first time is not a repeat.
In ensembles I have often played music with multipple repeats. Often it was not clear what the intention was, but since the composer was present it could be solved.
Based on those experiences I think I will prefer that it is stated in the beginning how many times it is supposed to be played, like "Play 4x" as @Laurence Payne suggested. Except if it is written the way suggested by @Meekohi with a box that says 1.,2.,3. and a box that says 4; but such boxes are only applied if there is a difference at the end of the section the last time it is played.