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Strings.Left Method

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

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

Namespace:  Microsoft.VisualBasic
Assembly:  Microsoft.VisualBasic (in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Shared Function Left ( _
    str As String, _
    Length As Integer _
) As String
public static string Left(
    string str,
    int Length
)

Parameters

  • str
    Type: System.String
    Required. String expression from which the leftmost characters are returned.
  • Length
    Type: System.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.

Return Value

Type: System.String
Returns a string containing a specified number of characters from the left side of a string.

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.Strings.

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 = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Left(TestString, 5)

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.