LEFT

Compatibility

LEFT(s,i)
Engine	OK	Alternative
ingres	Yes
mysql	Yes
oracle	No	SUBSTR(s, 1, i)
postgres	No	SUBSTRING(s, 1, i)
sqlserver	Yes

LEFT

LEFT(s,n) allows you to extract n characters from the start of the string s.

   LEFT('Hello world', 4) -> 'Hell'     

SELECT name,
       SUBSTRING(name, 1, 3)
  FROM bbc

SELECT name,
       SUBSTR(name, 1, 3)
  FROM bbc

SELECT name,
       LEFT(name, 3)
  FROM bbc

See also

• SUBSTRING function
• RIGHT function
• POSITION function

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