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Text function
LEFTB
Returns the leftmost bytes of a text string, for double-byte languages.
Rarely usedDifficulty 1200 · ProficientUsage rank #265 of 520
When to use it
LEFT in bytes.
The shape of it
- Syntax
=LEFTB(text, [num_bytes])
Worked examples
Double-byte
=LEFTB("東京都",2) → 東
Two bytes is one double-byte character.
Single-byte
=LEFTB("abc",2) → ab
Single-byte text behaves like LEFT.
Four bytes
=LEFTB("東京都",4) → 東京
Four bytes, two characters.
Worth knowing
- Use LEFT unless a fixed-byte layout is required.
- An odd byte count that splits a character returns a space for the half.
- LENB tells you the byte length.
Where it goes wrong
- Behaves like LEFT on non-DBCS systems.
- Splitting a double-byte character produces a space.
Related
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