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Function Reference
1010data Insights Platform offers a rich set of functions that may be used in value expressions when creating computed columns and in selection expressions when performing row selections.
String functions
String functions are vector functions that manipulate vectors of strings to provide information about a string or substring, concatenate and split strings, or transform strings based on specified criteria.
Substrings
first(X;Y)
Returns a string consisting of the first number of characters of a given string.

Function Reference
1010data Insights Platform offers a rich set of functions that may be used in value expressions when creating computed columns and in selection expressions when performing row selections.
- All 1010data Functions
  1010data provides a whole range of functions that can provide information and act on your data.
- Time/Date functions
  The time/date functions are vector functions that operate on columns containing time-related data and return specific information about the date/time for each row.
- Group functions (g_functions)
  Group functions, or g_functions, are used to perform operations, such as summarizations, on rows that have the same values in a set of given columns.
- Math functions
  Math functions are vector functions that perform mathematical operations on one or more columns and return a column of results based on the operation.
- Matrix functions
- Categorization functions
  Categorization functions are vector functions that organize data and determine logical groupings. These functions can be used for conditionalizing results and/or bucketing value ranges.
- String functions
  String functions are vector functions that manipulate vectors of strings to provide information about a string or substring, concatenate and split strings, or transform strings based on specified criteria.
  - Length
  - Position
  - Case
  - Substrings
    - beginswith(X;L)
      Returns a boolean value indicating whether a given string begins with any of the substrings in a given list.
    - beginswith_ci(X;L)
      Returns a boolean value indicating whether a given string begins with any of the substrings in a given list and is case insensitive. (Available as of version 12.33)
    - contains(X;L)
      Returns a boolean value indicating whether a given string contains any of the substrings in a given list.
    - contains_ci(X;L)
      Returns a boolean value indicating whether a given string contains any of the substrings in a given list and is case insensitive. (Available as of version 12.33)
    - dropto(X;Y)
      Returns the remaining part of a given string after the characters up to and including the first occurrence of a particular substring are dropped.
    - endswith(X;L)
      Returns a boolean value indicating whether a given string ends with any of the substrings in a given list.
    - endswith_ci(X;L)
      Returns a boolean value indicating whether a given string ends with any of the substrings in a given list and is case insensitive. (Available as of version 12.33)
    - first(X;Y)
      Returns a string consisting of the first number of characters of a given string.
    - last(X;Y)
      Returns a string consisting of the last number of characters of a given string.
    - leftstr(X;Y)
      Returns a string consisting of the first number of characters of a given string, or all but the last number of characters of a given string. (Available as of version 16.09)
    - midstr(X;Y;Z)
      Extracts up to Z characters starting at the Yth character from the end of the string. (Available as of version 16.09)
    - rightstr(X;Y)
      Returns a string consisting of the last number of characters of a given string, or all but the first number of characters of a given string. (Available as of version 16.09)
    - strcount(X;Y)
      Returns the number of occurrences of a given substring within a given string.
    - strdrop(X;Y;N)
      Returns all but the first number of characters, or the substring consisting of all but the first number of elements delimited by a particular value, within a given string.
    - stredit(X;P;N;Y)
      Returns a given string, with a specified number of characters starting at a certain position replaced by a given substring.
    - strextract(X;P;N)
      Returns the specified number of characters, starting at a certain position, extracted from a given string.
    - strfind(X;Y;I)
      Returns the position within a given string of a particular occurrence of a given substring.
    - strlcs(X;Y)
      Returns the longest contiguous substring that appears in two given strings.
    - strlcslen(X;Y)
      Returns the length of the longest contiguous substring that appears in two given strings.
    - strlcspos(X;Y)
      Returns the position in the second string of the longest contiguous substring that appears in both given strings.
    - strpick(X;Y;I)
      Returns the character at a particular position, or the element delimited by a particular value, within a given string.
    - strrange(X)
      Returns the unique characters of a given string sorted in ascending order.
    - strspan(X;Y;C;D)
      Returns the position of the first (or last) character in a given string that is found (or not found) in another string.
    - strsplit(X;Y;I)
      Returns the character at a particular position, or the substring delimited by a particular value, within a given string.
    - strsplitpos(X;Y;I)
      Returns the position of a certain element delimited by a particular value within a given string.
    - strsubst(X;Y;I;Z)
      Returns the given string with a particular occurrence (or all occurrences) of a given substring replaced with a different substring.
    - strtake(X;Y;N)
      Returns the first number of characters, or the substring consisting of the first number of elements delimited by a particular value, within a given string.
    - strtrim(X;Y;C;D)
      Returns the given string with certain characters trimmed from either or both ends.
    - taketo(X;Y)
      Returns the beginning part of a given string up to but excluding the first occurrence of a particular substring.
  - Concatenation
  - Comparison
  - Transformations
  - Regular expressions
- List functions
  List functions are scalar functions that return lists, subsets of lists, and combinations of lists, among other functionality. Lists, along with packages, are compound scalar data types that facilitate programmatic interaction with scalar data values and variables.
- Data-handling functions
  Data-handling functions are vector functions that return a hash value based on an input column or columns.
- Row functions
  Row functions are vector functions that return computational outputs for row inputs, as opposed to column outputs. Row inputs are defined as a space- or comma-separated list of column names.
- SQL compatibility functions
  SQL compatibility functions are functions that treat null values as SQL nulls.
- Financial functions
- System functions
  System functions are special functions in 1010data that return information about users, tables, and other system objects.
- Object functions
  The object functions can be used to check the existence, type, and accessibility of objects such as folders, tables, and queries on the 1010data Insights Platform.
- Miscellaneous functions
  This category of functions contains special functions that don't neatly fit into other categories of functions.

`first(X;Y)`

Returns a string consisting of the first number of characters of a given string.

Syntax

first(X;Y)

Input

Argument	Type	Description
`X`	text	The string on which to apply the function A scalar value or the name of a column
`Y`	integer	The number of characters to extract from `X`

Return Value

Returns a text string comprised of the first Y characters of X.

If X is N/A, the result is Y blank characters.

Sample Usage


`value`	`number`	`first(value;number)`
'banana'	3	'ban'
'banana'	4	'bana'
'banana'	2	'ba'

Example

In the "Product Master" table (pub.demo.retail.prod), you can extract the substrings consisting of the first three characters of the department descriptions. To do this, create a computed column and apply the first(X;Y) function to the deptdesc column.

<base table="pub.demo.retail.prod"/>
<willbe name="example" value="first(deptdesc;3)"/>
<colord cols="deptdesc,example"/>

The results are the first three characters of the values in the deptdesc column.

Additional Information

This function does not work with Unicode (UTF-8) strings.
For a Unicode-compliant alternative, consider strextract(X;P;N).