Firebird Documentation Index → Firebird 2.5 Language Ref. Update → Internal functions → LEFT()
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LEFT()

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Find a more recent version at Firebird 5.0 Language Reference: LEFT()

Available in: DSQL, PSQL

Added in: 2.1

Description: Returns the leftmost part of the argument string. The number of characters is given in the second argument.

Result type: VARCHAR or BLOB

Syntax: 

LEFT (string, length)

  • This function fully supports text BLOBs of any length, including those with a multi-byte character set.

  • If string is a BLOB, the result is a BLOB. Otherwise, the result is a VARCHAR(n) with n the length of the input string.

  • If the length argument exceeds the string length, the input string is returned unchanged.

  • If the length argument is not a whole number, bankers' rounding (round-to-even) is applied, i.e. 0.5 becomes 0, 1.5 becomes 2, 2.5 becomes 2, 3.5 becomes 4, etc.

See also: RIGHT()

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Firebird Documentation Index → Firebird 2.5 Language Ref. Update → Internal functions → LEFT()