or you can manage it in query and then display :-
Here is List of customers:-
SELECT CNAME FROM dbo.CUSTOMER
CNUM CNAME
2001 HOFFMAN
2003 LIU
2004 GRASS
2005 CLAMERS
2006 CINUS
2007 PERERIA
2008 LIU
Here in this example, I will show only first 5 characters of Customer Name :-
SELECT CNUM,CASE WHEN LEN(CNAME) > 5 THEN SUBSTRING(CNAME,0,6) + '..' ELSE CNAME END CNAME FROM dbo.CUSTOMER
CNUM CNAME
2001 HOFFM..
2003 LIU
2004 GRASS
2005 CLAME..
2006 CINUS
2007 PERER..
2008 LIU