2.1.1010 Part 4 Section 3.17.7.190, LEFTB

a.   The standard states that LEFT is intended for use with languages that use the single-byte character set (SBCS), whereas LEFTB is intended for use with languages that use the double-byte character set (DBCS).

In Office, LEFT is intended for use with any language, whereas LEFTB is intended for use with languages that use the double-byte character set (DBCS).

b.   The standard does not specify behavior of LEFTB when default language supports DBCS and when it does not support DBCS.

In Office, when the default language supports DBCS, LEFTB counts each double-byte character as 2 bytes, and each single-byte character as 1. When the default language does not support DBCS, LEFTB counts each character as 1 byte.

c.   The standard does not specify which languages support DBCS.

In Office, the languages that support DBCS include Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), and Korean.