Strings.Left(String, Int32) Method

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: Microsoft.VisualBasic

Assembly:: Microsoft.VisualBasic.Core.dll

Assembly:: Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll

Source:: Strings.vb

Source:: Strings.vb

Source:: Strings.vb

Important

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Returns a string containing a specified number of characters from the left side of a string.

public:
 static System::String ^ Left(System::String ^ str, int Length);

public static string Left (string? str, int Length);

public static string Left (string str, int Length);

static member Left : string * int -> string

Public Function Left (str As String, Length As Integer) As String

Parameters

str: String

Required. String expression from which the leftmost characters are returned.

Length: Int32

Required. Integer expression. Numeric expression indicating how many characters to return. If 0, a zero-length string ("") is returned. If greater than or equal to the number of characters in str, the entire string is returned.

Returns

String

A string containing a specified number of characters from the left side of a string.

Exceptions

ArgumentException

Length < 0.

Examples

This example demonstrates the use of the Left function to return a substring of a given String. In a class that has a Left property, it may be necessary to fully qualify the Left function.

Dim testString As String = "Hello World!"
' Returns "Hello".
Dim subString As String = Left(testString, 5)

Remarks

To determine the number of characters in str, use the Len function. If used in a Windows Forms application, or any other class that has a Left property, you must fully qualify the function with Microsoft.VisualBasic.Left.

Note

The LeftB function in previous versions of Visual Basic returns a string in bytes rather than characters. It is used primarily for converting strings in double-byte character set (DBCS) applications. All current Visual Basic strings are in Unicode, and LeftB is no longer supported.

Applies to