LEFT function returns a number of characters from the left-hand side of a string. : LEFT « String Functions « SQL Server / T-SQL Tutorial

This can be from 1 character up to all the characters in the string.
5>
6> DECLARE @LEFT_STRING char(100)
7> SET @LEFT_STRING = "www.java2s.com, www.java2s.com, java2s"
8> SELECT LEFT(@LEFT_STRING,10)
9> GO

--------------------
www.java2s

(1 rows affected)

12.6.LEFT
	12.6.1.	LEFT function returns a number of characters from the left-hand side of a string.
	12.6.2.	select LEFT('SQL Server', 3)
	12.6.3.	Taking the Leftmost or Rightmost Part of a String
	12.6.4.	A SELECT statement that uses the LEFT function
	12.6.5.	Use LEFT and RIGHT to get sub value from a column
	12.6.6.	LEFT(CompanyName, 1) and like
	12.6.7.	How to use the string functions to parse a string