Left function

LEFT returns the first character or characters in a text string, based on the number of characters you specify.

Syntax

LEFT(text,num_chars)

Text     is the text string that contains the characters you want to extract.

Num_chars     specifies the number of characters you want LEFT to extract. Num_chars must be greater than or equal to zero. If num_chars is greater than the length of text, LEFT returns all of text. If num_chars is omitted, it is assumed to be 1.

Examples

Col1	Form ula	Description (Result)
Sale Price	=LEFT([Col1],4)	First four characters in the string (Sale)
Sweden	=LEFT([Col1])	First character in the string (S)