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--- syntax:functions:left [2015/05/26 09:22] – dmitry
+++ syntax:functions:left [2021/08/14 22:15] (current) – [Examples] craigt
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-===== Left(text, N) =====
+====== Left(text, no_of_chars) ======
+Category:  Text function
-Returns //N// left symbols of the specific //text//, where //N// is a number. First argument is implicitly converted into text, if required.
+\\
+=====Description=====
+This function returns the specified number of symbols from the left of //text// as a text value.
-^  Example  ^  Result  ^
+\\
-|  left('Los Angeles', 3)  |  Los  |
+=====Arguments=====
-|  left('IT services', 2)  |  IT  |
+^Argument^Type^Description^
+|text|Text|The text value to extract the symbols from.|
+|no_of_chars|Integer, minimum of 0|The number of symbols returned from the left side of the //text// argument.|
-**See also**
+**Return value type:** Text
-  * [[syntax:functions:right]]
-  * [[syntax:functions:mid]]
+\\
+=====Remarks=====
+Regardless of the type of value passed in for //text//, the result of this function is //always// a text value.
+Entering a //no_of_chars// of 0 will return an empty value.  Entering a //no_of_chars// greater than the length of //text// will result in the full //text// value being returned.
+Numbers and equations can be used as the //text// argument and are implicitly converted to their text-equivalent.  When passing in an equation for //text//, //no_of_chars// number of symbols from the equation's //result// will be returned.
+Passing in a date value (#yyyy-MM-dd) will return //no_of_chars// number of symbols from the converted date serial value.  See the examples below.
+\\
+=====Examples=====
+  left('Los Angeles', 3) //Returns 'Los'
+  left('IT services', 8) //Returns 'IT servi'
+  left('Canada',10) //Returns 'Canada'
+  left('EasyMorph',0) //Returns ''  (Empty value)
+  left(12345, 3) //Returns '123'  (Note, the numeric value of 12345 was passed in.  The result is a text value.)
+  left(#2021-10-21, 3) //Returns '444'  (2021-10-21 is 44490 as a date serial value, so '444' is returned.)
+  left(100*3, 1) //Returns '3'  (The result of 100 * 3 = 300, so '3' is returned as the leftmost character.)
+\\
+===== See also =====
+  * [[syntax:functions:right|Right(text, no_of_chars)]]
+  * [[syntax:functions:mid|Mid(text, N, K)]]