title: Truncating a mergefield in Microsoft Word for mailmerge
body: <p>I'm looking to create a formula and apply to a mergefield in Word 2013. I have no access to the db and only given merge fields. My goal is truncate/shorten certain mergefields. E.g. Full Name to just initial, Age [27 years] to short age [27].</p>
  
  <p>Access and excel have the formula 'left' which i've tried to use with no success. There seems to be a low more options available for numbers.</p>
  
  <pre><code>{=left({ MERGEFIELD First_Name },1)}
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However this gives a syntax error. Is there a list of formulas that work for mergefield?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Outcome</strong></p>
  
  <p>'Steven' -> 'S'</p>
  
  <p>'27 Years' -> '27'</p>