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MySQL | LEFT method

schedule Aug 12, 2023
Last updated
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MySQL
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MySQL's LEFT(~) method returns a substring with len characters from the left of the input string.

Parameters

1. str | string

The input string from which to return the substring.

2. len | number

The number of characters to be returned in the substring.

If the provided number is greater than the length of the input string, the input string is returned.

Return value

A substring with len characters from the left of the input string.

Examples

Consider the following table about some students:

student_id

fname

lname

day_enrolled

age

username

1

Sky

Towner

2015-12-03

17

stowner1

2

Ben

Davis

2016-04-20

19

bdavis2

3

Travis

Apple

2018-08-14

18

tapple3

4

Arthur

David

2016-04-01

16

adavid4

5

Benjamin

Town

2014-01-01

17

btown5

The above sample table can be created using the code here.

Basic usage

To return the first three characters of student last names:

SELECT lname, LEFT(lname, 3)
FROM students;
+--------+----------------+
| lname | LEFT(lname, 3) |
+--------+----------------+
| Towner | Tow |
| Davis | Dav |
| Apple | App |
| David | Dav |
| Town | Tow |
+--------+----------------+

To return the first two characters from 'Hello':

SELECT LEFT('Hello', 2);
+------------------+
| LEFT('Hello', 2) |
+------------------+
| He |
+------------------+
robocat
Published by Arthur Yanagisawa
Edited by 0 others
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