LEFT returns a string that is the result of inserting string x at the left end of a string with length n and padded on the right with the character z as needed.
>>-LEFT(x,n-+----+-)------------------------------------------->< '-,z-'
- x
- Expression. x must have a computational type and should have a character type. If not, it is converted to CHARACTER.
- n
- Expression. n must have a computational type and should have a character type. If n does not have the attributes FIXED BINARY(31,0), it is converted to them.
- z
- Expression. If specified, z must have the type CHARACTER(1) NONVARYING type.
Example
dcl Source char value('One Hundred SCIDS Marks');
dcl Target char(30);
Target = left (Source, length(Target), '*');
/* 'One Hundred SCIDS Marks*******' */If z is omitted, a blank is used as the padding character.