# Strings cut

The **Strings cut** step returns a snippet of an input string based on a range of character locations.

For example, you may need to parse the time `11:00` out of a file name such as `11:00 am update` by returning the substring starting at index `0` and ending before index `5`.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you specify locations outside the length of the input string, Strings cut returns an empty string.
{% endhint %}

### Step name

* **Step name**: Specify the unique name of the Strings cut step on the canvas. You can customize the name or leave it as the default.

### Fields to cut

Use the **Fields to cut** table to specify what to cut and where to cut it.

| Column               | Description                                                                                                                            |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **In stream field**  | Name of the field containing the string to cut. Select **Get fields** to populate the table from the incoming stream.                  |
| **Out stream field** | (Optional) A new output field containing the substring result. If you do not specify a value, the step replaces **In stream field**.   |
| **Cut from**         | Starting character location (zero-based). The first character has index `0`.                                                           |
| **Cut to**           | Character location after the ending point (zero-based, exclusive). For example, setting **Cut to** to `1` returns the first character. |

The maximum length of the resulting string is **Cut to** minus **Cut from**.

### Example

Given the string `example`, the character indexes are:

| Character | e | x | a | m | p | l | e |
| --------- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Index     | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

To return the first letter `e`, set **Cut from** to `0` and **Cut to** to `1`.

To return `am`, set **Cut from** to `2` and **Cut to** to `4`.

### Metadata injection support

This step supports metadata injection. You can use it with [ETL metadata injection](/pdia-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview/etl-metadata-injection.md) to pass metadata to your transformation at runtime.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.pentaho.com/pdia-data-integration/pdi-transformation-steps-reference-overview/strings-cut.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.