Description

The LEFT( ) function returns the leftmost character of a string (str). If the string is NULL, then it returns NULL.

This function has the form:

SELECT LEFT(str, len)

Parameter	Description
str	A string
len	Length

Return Value

The leftmost character of a string (str). If the string is NULL, then it returns NULL.

Examples

The following example shows the basic use of this function:

mysql> SELECT LEFT('foobarbar', 5);
-> 'fooba'