[Networkagent-developers] string formatting

[Theodore H. <tw...@do...>]

Is there a convenient way to truncate strings in a manner suitable for 
user display?

For example, a = "abcd"

a   prints abcd
a^2 prints "ab"
a~2 prints "a

How can I print just ab?  (seems like a^2 ought to do this).
theo

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