Function: Left

Description

Extracts n number of characters from the beginning of a string.

Syntax

Left(string,n)

Arguments

string can be a constant, a character field, an expression that results in a string or a function that returns a string.

n is the length of the substring you want to extract. The length can be a constant, a numeric field, an expression that results in a number or a function that returns a number.

Return value

This function returns a character string.

Calculated field example

If the Company field contained the value Widgets Inc, the following calculated field expression would return Widgets: Left(Company,7)

Filter/Find example

Records with a Company field value of Wright Corp or Wright Brothers can be selected or found using the expression: Left(Company,6)="Wright"