The SUBSTR function

You can use the SUBSTR function (substring function) to reference a portion (or a substring) of a string expression. The syntax for this expression is the following:

SUBSTR(source,starting_position[,length])

This function returns a string expression that you can use wherever string expressions can be used. The source is the string expression in which the substring is to be found. The starting_position describes where to look for the beginning of the string. Optionally, you can include the length of the substring you are looking for.

For example, you can use the SUBSTR function as follows:

mydata = 'Now is the time'
substring = substr(mydata,5,2)

In this example, the variable "substring" is assigned a value of 'is'.