>David,
>
>>>They both resolve to extremely fast string manipulation routines in C++. The only speed difference you should be able to detect is that left() only takes two arguments vs the three for substr(). But I seriously doubt you'll see much performance differences.
>
>
>That's what I'd figured. So, I still can't understand why so many people use the SUBSTR() version. Oh well, it least I'm not missing anything.
>
>Thanks,
>Thom

O well, a few years ago I couldn't understand while people are using LEFT() and RIGHT() if you can do the same with SUBSTR(). <g>