Function

left( text, num_chars )

Returns a specified number of characters from the text, starting from the first character.

Parameters

Keyword	Type	Description
text	Text	The text from which the substring will be taken.
num_chars	Number	The length in characters of the subtext to extract.

Returns

Text

Examples

left("boston",3) returns bos

Feature compatibility

The table below lists this function's compatibility with various features in Appian.

Feature	Compatibility	Note
Portals	Compatible
Offline Mobile	Compatible
Sync-Time Custom Record Fields	Compatible	Can be used to create a custom record field that only evaluates at sync time.
Real-Time Custom Record Fields	Incompatible	Custom record fields that evaluate in real time must be configured using one or more Custom Field functions.
Process Reports	Compatible
Process Events	Compatible