Left function

                                                      

Returns a Variant (String) containing a specified number of characters from the left side of a string.

Syntax

Left(string, length)

The Left function syntax has these named arguments:

Syntax
PartDescription
stringRequired. String expression from which the leftmost characters are returned. If string contains Null, Null is returned.
lengthRequired; Variant (Long). 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 string, the entire string is returned.

Remarks

To determine the number of characters in string, use the Len function.

Note

Use the LeftB function with byte data contained in a string. Instead of specifying the number of characters to return, length specifies the number of bytes.

Example

This example uses the Left function to return a specified number of characters from the left side of a string.

VB                                                   Copy                                                      
Dim AnyString, MyStr
AnyString = "Hello World"    ' Define string.
MyStr = Left(AnyString, 1)   ' Returns "H".
MyStr = Left(AnyString, 7)   ' Returns "Hello W".
MyStr = Left(AnyString, 20)  ' Returns "Hello World".

Right function

                                                      

Returns a Variant (String) containing a specified number of characters from the right side of a string.

Syntax

Right(string, length)

The Right function syntax has these named arguments.

Syntax
PartDescription
stringRequired. String expression from which the rightmost characters are returned. If string contains Null, Null is returned.
lengthRequired; Variant (Long). 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 string, the entire string is returned.

Remarks

To determine the number of characters in string, use the Len function.

Note

Use the RightB function with byte data contained in a string. Instead of specifying the number of characters to return, length specifies the number of bytes.

Example

This example uses the Right function to return a specified number of characters from the right side of a string.


Dim AnyString, MyStr
AnyString = "Hello World" ' Define string.
MyStr = Right(AnyString, 1) ' Returns "d".
MyStr = Right(AnyString, 6) ' Returns " World".
MyStr = Right(AnyString, 20)   ' Returns "Hello World".


MID function


Returns a Variant (String) containing a specified number of characters from a string.

Syntax

Mid(string, start, [ length ])

The Mid function syntax has these named arguments:

Syntax
PartDescription
stringRequired. String expression from which characters are returned. If string contains Null, Null is returned.
startRequired; Long. Character position in string at which the part to be taken begins. If start is greater than the number of characters in string, Mid returns a zero-length string ("").
lengthOptional; Variant (Long). Number of characters to return. If omitted or if there are fewer than length characters in the text (including the character at start), all characters from the start position to the end of the string are returned.

Remarks

To determine the number of characters in string, use the Len function.

Note

Use the MidB function with byte data contained in a string, as in double-byte character set languages. Instead of specifying the number of characters, the arguments specify numbers of bytes. For sample code that uses MidB, see the second example in the example topic.

Example

The first example uses the Mid function to return a specified number of characters from a string.

VB                                                   Copy                                                      
Dim MyString, FirstWord, LastWord, MidWords
MyString = "Mid Function Demo"    ' Create text string.
FirstWord = Mid(MyString, 1, 3)    ' Returns "Mid".
LastWord = Mid(MyString, 14, 4)    ' Returns "Demo".
MidWords = Mid(MyString, 5)    ' Returns "Function Demo".

The second example use MidB and a user-defined function (MidMbcs) to also return characters from string. The difference here is that the input string is ANSI and the length is in bytes.

VB                                                   Copy                                                      
Function MidMbcs(ByVal str as String, start, length)
    MidMbcs = StrConv(MidB(StrConv(str, vbFromUnicode), start, length), vbUnicode)
End Function

Dim MyString
MyString = "AbCdEfG"
' Where "A", "C", "E", and "G" are DBCS and "b", "d", 
' and "f" are SBCS.
MyNewString = Mid(MyString, 3, 4)
' Returns "CdEf"
MyNewString = MidB(MyString, 3, 4)
' Returns "bC"
MyNewString = MidMbcs(MyString, 3, 4)
' Returns "bCd"


Notes

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/language/reference/functions-visual-basic-for-applications

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/language/reference/user-interface-help/left-function

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/language/reference/user-interface-help/right-function

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/language/reference/user-interface-help/mid-function