LeftWords()

Category: Text

Syntax: LeftWords ( text; numberOfWords )

Parameters:

textAny expression that resolves to a text field.

numberOfWordsAny positive number or expression that returns a positive number.

Data type returned: Text

Description:

Returns the first n number of words in a text expression, where n is the number specified in the numberOfWords parameter.

Be aware of what symbols are considered to be word breaks by FileMaker Pro. Spaces, return characters, and most punctuation symbols are considered to be word breaks. Multiple word breaks next to each other (for example, two spaces, a comma, and a space) are considered as a single word break.

Certain punctuation symbols are word breaks when separating alpha characters, but not when separating numeric characters. These include the colon (:), slash (/), period (.), comma (,), and dash (-). For instance, LeftWords ("54.6"; 1) returns 54.6, but LeftWords ("x.y"; 1) returns x. The reason for this behavior is that those symbols are valid date, time, and number separators.

Leading and trailing punctuation around a word may be ignored by the LeftWords() function. For example, LeftWords ("John Q. Public, Jr."; 2) returns John Q, but LeftWords ("John Q. Public, Jr."; 3) returns John Q. Public.

Examples:

Function	Results
LeftWords("the quick brown fox jumps"; 3)	Returns the quick brown.
LeftWords(FullName; 1)	Returns Davie when FullName contains "Davie Jacques".