LEFT$: Your String Slice Master
Need to grab the beginning of a word or phrase? Want to extract the first few characters from a longer string? Say hello to LEFT$, your trusty string slice master! This handy function lets you chop off the leftmost portion of a string, leaving you with just the characters you need. It's like a precise pair of scissors for your text!
Syntax
LEFT$(<string>, <length>)
Where:
- <string>: The string you want to extract characters from.
- <length>: The number of characters you want to keep, starting from the left.
Applications
The LEFT$ function is your go-to tool when:
- Extracting parts of words: Get the first letter, the first syllable, or the first few letters of a word.
- Parsing data: Separate a comma-separated string into individual components.
- Formatting output: Create neatly aligned columns of text by truncating longer strings.
- Validating input: Check if the beginning of a user's input matches a specific pattern.
Code Examples
1. Simple Character Extraction:
10 A$="Hello, world!"
20 B$=LEFT$(A$,5) :rem B$ stores the first 5 characters of A$
30 PRINT B$ :rem Output: Hello
This example extracts the first 5 characters from the string "Hello, world!" and stores them in B$.
2. Parsing Names:
10 INPUT "Enter your full name: "; N$
20 FOR I=1 TO LEN(N$)
30 IF MID$(N$, I, 1) = " " THEN S=I
40 NEXT I
50 F$=LEFT$(N$,S-1) :rem Extract the first name
60 PRINT "First name: "; F$
Here, LEFT$ is used to isolate the first name from a full name input.
LEFT$ in the Wild: The Acronym Generator
Imagine you're writing a program to automatically generate acronyms from longer phrases. LEFT$ could help you extract the first letter of each word, combining them to create the acronym.
Don't let long strings overwhelm you! With LEFT$ in your toolbox, you can precisely slice and dice your text, extracting just the portions you need. It's a simple yet versatile function that can streamline your string manipulations and make your Commodore 64 programs more efficient. So unleash the power of LEFT$ and become a master of string manipulation!
