title: MySQL/SQL retrieve first 40 characters of a text field?
body: <p>How can I retrieve a text field from mysql db table, but not the entire text, just the few 40 or so characters.</p>
  
  <p>Can this be done in sql or do I need to do it using php?</p>
  
  <p>basically what I am trying to do is show the first x characters and then let the user click on that to view the full content.</p>