Format 1: left(, length)
Format 2: leftw(, length)
Extract specified number of characters from the left as defined in the length parameter from the character string . Use leftw if the string contains multibyte characters.
Extract the first 3 characters in the str column.
$ more dat1.csv id,str 1,abcdefg 2,12345678 3, 4,12 $ mcal c='left($s{str},3)' a=rsl i=dat1.csv o=rsl1.csv #END# kgcal a=rsl c=left($s{str},3) i=dat1.csv o=rsl1.csv $ more rsl1.csv id,str,rsl 1,abcdefg,abc 2,12345678,123 3,, 4,12,12