Return first 5 characters of a field

[ChuckCasey]

I'm having a huge mental block and can't remember the word for it, but I want to shorten a field so that only the first 5 characters are returned in my query. For example, I have a a table that stores employee number and name in the same field (Don't ask why, I didn't create it, but now I need to separate it). Please help. What is the word for this? And how can I do it? Thanks in advance.

 

[Remou]

Do you mean Left?
Left([FieldName],5)

 

[PHV]

Or to get only the numeric prefix:
Val([field name])

Hope This Helps, PH.
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ181-2886

 

[ChuckCasey]

Thanks, you folks are fast. Left worked. Many thanks.