c# - How to get only first n characters from a string

Get only the first n characters from a String

The String represents text as a sequence of UTF-16 code units. The String is a sequential collection of characters that is used to represent text. The String is a sequential collection of System.Char objects.

The following .net c# tutorial code demonstrates how we can get the first n characters from a String instance. So, in this .net c# tutorial code we will take the specified number of characters at the first of a String object. Here we will use the String Substring() method and the Math Min() method to get the first n numbers of characters from a String instance.

At first, we have to check whether the specified n number is less than or equal to the String instance length or not. If the n is greater than the String instance length then we set the n number as the String length. We can achieve that using Math Min() method. The Math Min() method returns the smaller of two numbers.

Then we will call the String Substring() method to get the specified numbers of characters from the String first. The String Substring(int startIndex, int length) method overload retrieves a substring from this instance where the substring starts at a specified character and has a specified length. So using this method we can get the first n numbers of characters from a String instance.

get-only-first-n-characters-from-a-string.aspx


<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true"%>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<script runat="server">
    protected void Button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
    {
        string s = "this is a sample string.";
        int length = 15;
        string ncharacters = s.Substring(0,Math.Min(length,s.Length));
        Label1.Text = s + "<br />";
        Label1.Text += ncharacters;
    }
</script>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
    <title>c# example - get only first n characters from a string</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        <h2 style="color:DarkBlue; font-style:italic;">
            c# example - get only first n characters from a string
        </h2>
        <hr width="550" align="left" color="LightBlue" />  

        <asp:Label 
            ID="Label1" 
            runat="server"
            Font-Size="X-Large"
            >
        </asp:Label>
        <br /><br />
        <asp:Button 
            ID="Button1" 
            runat="server" 
            Text="get only first n characters[15]" 
            OnClick="Button1_Click"
            Height="40"
            Font-Bold="true"
            />
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

More c# examples