Left function

[Guest]

Hi

I'm having difficulty using the Left function in a Jet query. Other
functions, such as DatePart and InStr work fine in queries, but Left isn't
working. I checked my references, and they're all there.

Here's the sql:

SELECT Left([Client Numbers].[CMR Client Number],3) AS [CMR Number] FROM
[Client Numbers]

I keep getting the following error: 'Function isn't available in query
expression', and it lists the Left function above.

There doesn't seem to be a SUBSTRING function in Jet. Is there another way
to extract the first few characters of a string?

 

[JohnFol]

Just tried this in NWind

SELECT Employees.FirstName, Left([FirstName],3) AS Expr1
FROM Employees;

and this is ok.

Might be worth doing the same to rule out any install / MDB problems.

 

[Ken Snell [MVP]]

If any of the database's references are messed up -- you can get that
prompt.

Try following these steps (from a post by Douglas Steele, MVP):

This can be caused by differences in either the location or file version of
certain files between the machine where the application was developed, and
where it's being run (or the file missing completely from the target
machine). Such differences are common when new software is installed.

On the machine(s) where it's not working, open any code module (or open the
Debug Window, using Ctrl-G, provided you haven't selected the "keep debug
window on top" option). Select Tools | References from the menu bar. Examine
all of the selected references.

If any of the selected references have "MISSING:" in front of them, unselect
them, and back out of the dialog. If you really need the reference(s) you
just unselected (you can tell by doing a Compile All Modules), go back in
and reselect them.

If none have "MISSING:", select an additional reference at random, back out
of the dialog, then go back in and unselect the reference you just added. If
that doesn't solve the problem, try to unselect as many of the selected
references as you can (Access may not let you unselect them all), back out
of the dialog, then go back in and reselect the references you just
unselected. (NOTE: write down what the references are before you delete
them, because they'll be in a different order when you go back in)

For far more than you could ever want to know about this problem, check out
http://members.rogers.com/douglas.j.steele/AccessReferenceErrors.html