# left — Haybarn WASM 1.5.5-rc3

Extracts the left-most count characters.

- Reference: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/haybarn-1.5.5-rc3/left/
- JSON: /products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/haybarn-1.5.5-rc3/functions/left.json
- Snapshot ID: haybarn-1.5.5-rc3
- Engine: haybarn v1.5.6-dev149
- Source ID: 105edd31b5
- Binary SHA-256: 426638bc374fcc542fea93b251f885bfb7d221c68fcc0a5a81cc565d7e6ca180
- Captured: 2026-09-06T00:23:30.515Z
- Source: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@haybarn/haybarn-wasm/v/1.5.5-rc3
- Loaded extensions: core_functions, icu, json, parquet

## Interpretation

- Choose a snapshot matching the target engine and build. The default is captured from the published Haybarn WASM package used by the browser playground. Historical native snapshots are also available.
- Availability is an observation in the recorded build and extension profile, not a guarantee of support in every installation or in WASM.
- Types and descriptions are declarations from duckdb_functions(). Binding can specialize result types. Null means not supplied by the catalog; do not invent defaults, optionality, argument mode, or table output columns.
- Raw parameter arrays preserve catalog order for scalar/aggregate/macro functions. Raw table arguments are alphabetical. Use callingConvention for engine-confirmed positional order and named arguments; null modes are unrecorded. Named does not mean optional. Macro defaults and special named variadic behavior are not supplied by duckdb_functions().
- Catalog examples are source material and may require data or extensions. runnableExamples contains separately verified SQL for the pinned WASM package; sample-data adaptations and guide examples are labeled separately.
- Guide annotations and recipes are separate editorial content. The browser runner always uses Haybarn WASM 1.5.5-rc3, independently of the documentation snapshot.
- All URLs beginning with / are relative to the origin hosting this document. Exports require no JavaScript, cookies, API key, or browser engine.

## Overloads

### overload-3464f5abb7132a31

Kind: scalar. Parameter order: catalog-order.

```text
left(string: VARCHAR, count: BIGINT) → VARCHAR
```

Link: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/haybarn-1.5.5-rc3/left/#overload-3464f5abb7132a31

| Argument | Catalog type | Calling mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| string | VARCHAR | not recorded |
| count | BIGINT | not recorded |

Declared return type: VARCHAR. Variadic argument type: none declared.
Stability: CONSISTENT. Declared side effects: false.


## Guide recipes

No guide recipes.

## Engine catalog examples

Source examples may require additional data or extensions. Expressions are wrapped in SELECT; execution verification is not recorded.

Reported for: overload-3464f5abb7132a31

```sql
SELECT left('Hello🦆', 2);
```

## Runnable examples

Executed successfully in Haybarn WASM 1.5.5-rc3. Sample data and guide examples are separate from the original catalog.

```sql
SELECT left('Hello🦆', 2);
```

## Additional DuckDB documentation

- [Text Functions](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/text#leftstring-count)
- [Text Functions](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/text.html#leftstring-count)

## In other engines

### Apache Spark



Apache Spark:

```sql
SELECT LEFT(x, 2), RIGHT(x, 2)
```

Haybarn / DuckDB:

```sql
SELECT LEFT(x, 2), RIGHT(x, 2)
```

Translation from [SQLGlot](https://github.com/tobymao/sqlglot/blob/3086608e6fd4c41c02dfba47171608d2b193fce2/tests/dialects/test_spark.py#L998).

## Observed availability

| Snapshot | Observed | Overloads | JSON |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| haybarn-1.5.5-rc3 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/haybarn-1.5.5-rc3/functions/left.json) |
| duckdb-1.5.5 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.5.5/functions/left.json) |
| duckdb-1.4.4 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.4.4/functions/left.json) |
| duckdb-1.3.2 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.3.2/functions/left.json) |

Engine catalog documentation is derived from MIT-licensed Haybarn and DuckDB. [Notices](/third-party-notices.txt).