Left (String function)

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

The Left 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

%outString	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 optional, name required, parameter is the character used to pad the method object string on the right if it is shorter than the requested length. c 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.
• Left 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 contains fewer than 6 bytes, then all of %x is copied into %y, padded on the right with blanks:

   %y = %x:left(5)

2. The following statement displays Wheeeee:

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

See also

• The UnicodeLeft function.
• The Right and UnicodeRight functions.
• The Center String function.

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