The FIRST function returns the number of characters you specify from the beginning of the text string you specify.
You use this function when you need to know the first part of a text value, such as when you want to use only the first initial of a client's name in a document.
| Function Attributes | Details |
| Function name | FIRST |
| Usage model | FIRST ( in:TEXT, count:NUM ) |
| Parameters | This function requires you to replace two parameters: |
|
in: TEXT |
The function returns some of the first characters in the text variable. |
|
count: NUM |
This specifies the amounts of characters the function returns from the text variable. |
| Result | A text value. |
The following computation looks at the client’s first, middle, and last names and returns only the first character from each of these variables. When merged together, these characters create the client’s initials:
FIRST( Client First Name, 1 ) + FIRST ( Client Middle Name, 1 ) + FIRST ( Client Last Name, 1 )
In the following example, the first four characters of a client’s last name are merged with a case number to create a file number.
FIRST ( Client Last Name, 4 ) + Case Number
After you download the example template, you can import the template to any workspace to see this example code in action.