sql help for getting fixed amout of text from database

[merlinvicki]

hi,
I have this SQL statement.:
<cfquery name="showall" datasource="#request.dsn#">
SELECT TOP 6
p.blog_id,p.blog_date,p.blog_headlines,p.blog_cont ents,p.blog_name,p.blog_time,p
..blog_email,p.counter_viewed,p.keywords,p.thumbna il,c.blog_cat_name,c.blog_cat_i
d FROM blog_posts p left outer join blog_category c on p.blog_cat =
c.blog_cat_id order by p.kount desc;
</cfquery>

can somebody guide me how can i return only 200 characters from the database,
not more.

thanx

[Dan Bracuk]

200 characters of what?

If your db has a substring function you can use it on any character field.

[merlinvicki]

Originally posted by: Dan Bracuk
200 characters of what?

If your db has a substring function you can use it on any character field.

Hi, Thanks for replying. I have this blog:
[url]http://merlinvicki.in/index.cfm?content=blogs[/url]

i want only 200 chars to be displayed for each entry. Right now all the text i
have in the database is reflected on the page. I just want to constraint it to
display only 200 characters per blog entry. I hope I am clear.

thanx

[Dan Bracuk]

So you want the 1st 200 characters of p.blog_contents?

If your db has a substring function use it. Otherwise select the whole field and use the cold fusion left function.

[merlinvicki]

Grrreat!

Thanxs Dan, The Left function did the trick.

Anybody else looking for the answers can check it out here:
[url]http://livedocs.macromedia.com/coldfusion/6.1/htmldocs/functib2.htm[/url]

regards
merlinvicki