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So I have a property table that has addresses like below.

12 Andrews CL, Pxxx
1/12 Andrews CL, Pxxx
2/31 Macrossan ST, Pxxx
2/7-11 Barrier   ST, Pxxx

I need to only show

12
1/12
2/31
2/7-11

Can this be done within the expression builder in Mapinfo 12?

In python it would be something like address[:address.find(' ')]

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2 Answers 2

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Yes, you can do this by using the Left$ and InStr functions as below. Check out the MapBasic Reference Guide (should be available in the Documentation folder of your MapInfo installation) for detailed information about those functions, along with a whole host of others.

Left$(address,InStr(1, address, " ") - 1)
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6
  • You beat me to it by a few seconds, @T_Bacon :-)
    – Peter Horsbøll Møller
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 13:55
  • So whose answer should I pick? you both answered the same but neither of them get all characters from the left up to the first space. Thanks for pointing me to the reference guide. I didn't know it was there.
    – GeorgeC
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 14:42
  • 2
    Pick this one as he posted the answer seconds before me ;-)
    – Peter Horsbøll Møller
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 14:55
  • No worries -but how do I get to print the first characters upto the first space?
    – GeorgeC
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 15:22
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    @GeorgeC - Or you could do it through MapBasic as Peter has suggested in the comments for his answer.
    – T_Bacon
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 16:07
3

Try this:

Left$(ADDRESS, (InStr(1, ADDRESS, " ") - 1))

This will show the string to the left of the first space characters. ADDRESS is here the name of the column

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6
  • Thanks. It is printing Pxxx rather than 1/12. I want it to print from the first character upto the first space character.
    – GeorgeC
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 14:38
  • Are you saying it's printing the characters from the right instead of the characters from the left?
    – Peter Horsbøll Møller
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 14:56
  • Is the perceived space in fact a tab character by any chance? Try changing this bit: InStr(1, ADDRESS, " ") to InStr(1, ADDRESS, Chr$(9)), that might fix it.
    – T_Bacon
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 14:57
  • So if the full address is "1/12 Davidson ST, PORT SMITH" it is printing "Port" but it should print 1/12. How do I tell if it is a tab? it's all in one address field as {1/12 Davidson ST, PORT SMITH}
    – GeorgeC
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 15:00
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    Try this to figure out what character it is: select the object in the map and run these two statements via the MapBasic window which will print the ascii# of the character to the message window. The number 5 refers to the character you want to inspect: Fetch First From Selection Print Asc(Mid$(ADDRESS, 5, 1))
    – Peter Horsbøll Møller
    Commented Feb 24, 2016 at 15:38

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