select the first word from database

[rahaiffi]

how to select the first word from database?

for example,

table a

---

id | name

1 | 1A
2 | 2A
3 | 1B
4 | 3A

how to use the 'select' statement to show first word in field name in table a

the result will show
1, 2, and 3.

Please Help me

[NogDog]

SELECT DISTINCT SUBSTR(`name`,1,1) AS first_char FROM table_name ORDER BY first_char;