Substr help

[deleted_user]

I have a list of records of Brief No's in the format xxxxx-yy

I wish to keep only the 'x's, however, they are not a standard length, some are 6 characters long, some 5. The 'y's aren't strictly 2 character's either, sometimes one, sometimes 2.

The only constant is the hyphen.

How can I use the Substr to keep only the part of the string before the hyphen?

Thanks in advance

[LinusH]

scan(breifNo,1,'-')

[deleted_user]

thanks! worked a treat!