> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://hi-primus.gitbook.io/bumblebee/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://hi-primus.gitbook.io/bumblebee/transformations/transformation-functions/string-functions/left_string.md).

# Left (substring)

Extracts a given number of characters from the values of a string and outputs the result to a new column or to the same input column. This operation is useful for quickly extracting data from fixed-length values.

## Location

![Left (substring) on the interface](/files/-MY65hE4qASqV2YEjkHL)

## Fields

| Field                 | Type       | Description                                                                          |
| --------------------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Output column name(s) | Text field | Name of the output column(s), if left blank will save the result on the same column. |
| Characters to show    | Numeric    | The amount of characters to be shown.                                                |

## Example

![Left (substring) fields](/files/-MYHK7uPVvc9RIakmyWg) ![Left (substring) example](/files/-MY65hE6tlg4PBOFa_4s)