LEFT in SoftMaker PlanMaker: Extract Leading Text

=LEFT(TextString [, n])

Square brackets in the official syntax mean an optional argument, not literal brackets. The 2021 English manual names its first parameter Text, while the 2024/2026 manuals call it TextString; both descriptions and their examples explain the same leftmost-text purpose. This parameter-label change alone is not evidence of a functional change. The references do not specify behavior for negative or fractional n, so this guide does not assert a native PlanMaker error or rounding rule for them.

On a new, empty worksheet, type the following entries into the indicated cells. Treat codes as text, including their leading zeroes. These deliberately use only ordinary ASCII letters, hyphens and digits so that Unicode counting differences are outside the examples.

For row 1, enter the header words without the Markdown bold markers. Each item code is 11 characters: two letters, a hyphen, four digits, another hyphen, and three letters. Enter formulas in empty cells, such as E2 onward, so the example data is never overwritten.

1. Confirm that A2 holds the exact text CA-2048-RED.
2. Select E2 and enter =LEFT(A2,2).
3. Expected E2: CA. The first two characters are C and A.
4. Copy E2 down through E6, using the usual relative-reference adjustment.

Default argument: =LEFT(A2) is expected to return just C. The official reference illustrates the one-character default with LEFT("peanut") → p.

=LEFT(A3,3) is expected to produce US-, including the hyphen in position 3. LEFT counts characters, not words, delimiters, or fields. To get only the country code, request 2 rather than 3 characters. Removing the hyphen is a decision made by the formula author, not an automatic feature of LEFT.

Place this formula in F2 and fill down:

=IF(LEFT(A2,2)="CA","Canada","Other")

• PlanMaker IF function

A stricter two-part review combines prefix and suffix:

=IF(AND(LEFT(A2,2)="CA",RIGHT(A2,3)="RED"),"Canadian red","Other")

Expected A2 case: Canadian red; the first two characters are CA and the last three RED. Compare official AND and official RIGHT before adapting this logic for real data.

• Too many characters: =LEFT(A2,3) gives CA-, not CA. Include separators when counting positions.
• Wrong direction: LEFT finds prefixes; RIGHT finds suffixes, while MID starts from a position you specify.
• Numbers and leading zeroes: US-0052-BLU is a text code; extracting the middle 0052 yields text and is not the same as numerical 52. Preserve identifiers as text.
• Unexpected prefix: inspect the actual cell content for leading spaces or imported hidden characters. LEFT does not promise to trim them; do not silently trim identifiers that may intentionally contain spaces.
• Invalid/ambiguous character count: use an explicit whole number between 1 and the expected code length in these examples. SoftMaker’s reference does not specify exact outcomes for fractional or negative counts; native testing is required before documenting such edge cases.
• Formula displayed instead of result: check that the cell contains a real formula starting with =, not text or a pasted string with a leading apostrophe. The formula entry instructions show the required steps.

• Begin worksheet formulas with =. The PlanMaker 2026 formula basics explicitly requires it.
• Arguments in these English-language SoftMaker references use commas. If your installed locale expects different separators or displays a localized function name, use Formula → Function to verify the spelling and separator; no non-English installation was tested here. Quotation marks around literal strings are ordinary formula syntax.
• SoftMaker’s English PlanMaker 2021, 2024 and 2026 manuals document this function. That is evidence of documentation in those editions, not proof of a first-introduced version or identical behavior on FreeOffice, NX, Android, iOS or every operating-system build. PlanMaker’s general 2026 documentation names Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, but no platform-specific execution was performed.
• A formula in this guide may be a documentation-supported example or an independently calculated expected output; neither is an observed result from native PlanMaker. The specific example tables below are computed from the printed input strings.

These formula names have the same basic text-extraction/counting purpose in Microsoft Excel. For the ordinary ASCII examples in this guide, Excel’s published formulas imply the same outputs. However, do not assume every locale, date/number conversion, Unicode character (especially emoji or surrogate pairs), file-format conversion, or Excel Compatibility Version 2 case behaves identically in PlanMaker. Microsoft’s current documentation describes newer Unicode behavior for some Excel functions; the SoftMaker individual references do not document an equivalent switch. Workbook transfers and target-platform behavior therefore require testing.

The same terminology in LibreOffice/OpenOffice/Google Sheets is not independent proof of perfect compatibility. Check the target application’s functions, formula separators, text encoding and worksheet locale when migrating.

• SoftMaker PlanMaker — function documentation
• PlanMaker IF function
• official AND
• official RIGHT
• MID
• formula entry instructions
• PlanMaker 2026 formula basics

Verification status: Official documentation checked; example outcomes were independently reasoned or arithmetically checked where applicable. Not executed in SoftMaker PlanMaker.

• No genuine SoftMaker PlanMaker screenshots are included; this guide does not use mock application images.