Left (String function)

The left-most characters of the string (String class)

This intrinsic function returns the left-most characters of the method object string, possibly padding it on the right.

Syntax

%outString = string:Left( length, [Pad= c])

Syntax terms

%outStr	A variable to receive the string result of the Left method.
string	The input, method object string to which the method is applied.
length	The number of the left-most bytes to return. If the method object is shorter than the requested number of bytes, it is either padded to the requested length or the entire method object string is returned with no padding, depending on the value of the Pad parameter.
Pad	This is an optional, but nameRequired, parameter and is the character used to pad the method object string on the right if it is shorter than the requested length. char defaults to a blank. If set to null, no padding is applied.

Usage notes

• The length value must be a non-negative number. A negative number results in request cancellation.
• The pad parameter value must be either null or a single character. A longer value results in request cancellation in Sirius Mods version 7.2 and in a compilation error in Sirius Mods 7.3 and higher.
• The Left method is identical to the Substring method with a 1 for the first argument.
Left is available as of Sirius Mods version 7.2.

Examples

1. The following statement places the left-most 5 bytes of %x into %y. If %x is shorter than 6 bytes, then all of %x is copied into %y:

   %y = %x:left(5)

2. The following statement displays 'Wheeeee':

   printText {'Wh':left(7, pad='e')}

See also

• For details of the printtext statement, please see printText.

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