LEFT Function (VisioShapeSheet)

Returns the left-most character or characters in a text string, based on the number of characters you specify.

Syntax

LEFT(text, [,num_chars_opt])

Parameters

Name

Required/Optional

Data Type

Description

text

Required

String

The text string that contains the characters you want to extract.

num_chars_opt

Optional

Numeric

The number of characters you want to extract.

Return Value

String

Remarks

The value of num_chars_opt must be greater than or equal to zero (0).

If num_chars_opt is greater than the length of the text, LEFT returns all of the text. If num_chars_opt is omitted, it is assumed to be 1.

Example

LEFT ("January 1, 2004", 3)

Returns the value "Jan".