[discrete]
[[esql-left]]
=== `LEFT`
[.text-center]
image::esql/functions/signature/left.svg[Embedded,opts=inline]

Return the substring that extracts 'length' chars from the 'string' starting from the left.

[source.merge.styled,esql]
----
include::{esql-specs}/string.csv-spec[tag=left]
----
[%header.monospaced.styled,format=dsv,separator=|]
|===
include::{esql-specs}/string.csv-spec[tag=left-result]
|===

Supported types:

include::types/left.asciidoc[]