Q(uick)BASIC Function: LEFT$

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LEFT$

A string processing function that returns a string consisting of the leftmost n characters of a string

Worth knowing

Useful and cross-version information about the programming environments of QBasic and QuickBasic.

Syntax

LEFT$(stringexpression$,n%)
RIGHT$(stringexpression$,n%)

Description/Parameter(s)

stringexpression$	Any string expression.
n%	The number of characters to return, beginning with the leftmost or rightmost string character.

Example

a$ = "Microsoft QBasic"
PRINT LEFT$(a$, 5)     'Output is:  Micro
PRINT RIGHT$(a$, 5)    'Output is:  Basic

Syntax

LEFT$(stringexpression,n)

Description/Parameter(s)

The argument stringexpression can be any string variable, string constant, or string expression.

The argument n is a numeric expression in the range 0-32,767 indicating how many characters are to be returned.

If n is greater than the number of characters in stringexpression, the entire string is returned. To find the number of characters in stringexpression, use LEN(stringexpression).

If n is zero, the null string (length zero) is returned.

Example

This example prints the leftmost five characters of A$.

CLS                ' Clear screen
A$="BASIC LANGUAGE"
B$=LEFT$(A$, 5)
PRINT B$

Sample Output:

BASIC

Syntax

LEFT$(stringexpression$,n%)

Description/Parameter(s)

If n% is 0, the null string (a zero-length string) is returned.
If n% is greater than or equal to the number of characters in stringexpression$, the entire string is returned.
To find the number of characters in stringexpression$, use LEN(stringexpression$).

Example

This example uses the LEFT$ function to print the leftmost five characters of a string.

CLS                'Clear screen.
A$ = "BASIC LANGUAGE"
B$ = LEFT$(A$, 5)
PRINT B$

Sample Output:

BASIC