The LEFT() function in MySQL is used to extract a specified number of characters from the left side of a given string. It uses its second argument to decide, how many characters it should return.
Syntax:
LEFT (str, len)
Parameter: This function accepts two parameters as mentioned above and described below :
- str: The given string from whose left side a number of characters are to be extracted.
- len: The number of characters to extract. If this parameter is larger than the number of characters in the string, this function will return the actual string.
Returns: It returns a number of characters from a string (starting from left).
Example 1:
Applying LEFT() Function to a given string.
SELECT LEFT("geeksforgeeks", 4) AS Left_Str;Output:
| Left_Str |
|---|
| geek |
Example 2:
Applying Left() Function to a number.
SELECT LEFT(12345678, 4) AS Left_Num;
Output:
| Left_Num |
|---|
| 1234 |
Example 3:
Applying LEFT() Function to a given string when len > characters in the string.
SELECT LEFT("geeksforgeeks", 20) AS Left_Str;
Output :
| Left_Str |
|---|
| geeksforgeeks |
Example 4:
Applying LEFT() Function to a column in a table.
Table : Student_Details
| Student_Id | Student_Name | Student_Email |
|---|---|---|
| 1610110 | Aniket | anike1001@gmail.com |
| 1610111 | Nitin | nitin5438@yahoo.com |
| 1610112 | Sayantan | sayan6975@gmail.com |
| 1610113 | Sanjay | sanjay5064@tmail.com |
SELECT Student_Name, LEFT(Student_Email, 9) AS Email_Name
FROM Student_Details;
Output:
| Student_Name | Email_Name |
|---|---|
| Aniket | anike1001 |
| Nitin | nitin5438 |
| Sayantan | sayan6975 |
| Sanjay | sanjay506 |