Simple shell scripting question

[the poi]

Shell scripting newbie here... I want to "select" the first three charcters out of a string, so "scr" from "script". I could do it with a loop in c++ but I'm not sure if there's a more straightfoward way (or for that matter, how to make the loop) in shell scripting. Any pointers?

[the poi]

and naturally, within second of posting the thread, i find ot hwo to do it : ). tanks anyway i guess