# $left() problem

**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/left-problem/16787
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [April 1, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/left-problem/16787 "2015-04-01T11:43:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Lestrad](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/lestrad/32/347_2.png) [@Lestrad](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Lestrad)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/left-problem/16787/1 "2015-04-01T11:43:49Z")

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Hello. I'm trying to extract a composer name ("Tippett") from a title:

Tippett - The Blue Guitar - I. Medium Slow - Slow

I'm using:

$left(%title%,($strchr(%title%,-))

but I'm getting errors. However if I try $strchr(%title%,-) alone, I get a result of 9 (I realize I have to subtract 2 from the result, but first I need to get the result "Tippett -"

What am I doing wrong?

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### Author: ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/left-problem/16787/2 "2015-04-01T11:58:26Z")

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> [@Lestrad](#):
>
> ...  
> I'm using:
> 
> $left(%title%,($strchr(%title%,-))
> 
> but I'm getting errors....

Too many brackets:  
$left(%title%,$strchr(%title%,-))

What about "Guess value" for TITLE  
Guessing pattern: %composer% - %title%

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/detlevd/32/123_2.png) [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/left-problem/16787/3 "2015-04-01T11:58:31Z")

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> [@Lestrad](#):
>
> Hello. I'm trying to extract a composer name ("Tippett") from a title ... but I'm getting errors. ...

**$left('Tippett - The Blue Guitar - I. Medium Slow - Slow',$sub($strstr('Tippett - The Blue Guitar - I. Medium Slow - Slow',' -'),1)) $left(%TITLE%,$sub($strstr(%TITLE%,' -'),1))**

... or ...  
Action "Guess values"  
Source format: %TITLE%  
Forrmatstring: %ARTIST% - %DUMMY%

DD.20150401.1609.CEST

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### Author: ![poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/poster/32/4881_2.png) [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2015, 11:59am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/left-problem/16787/4 "2015-04-01T11:59:16Z")

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Why don't you use an action of the type "Guess Value" or the converter "Filename - Tag":

Format String: %composer% - %dummy%