[PHP] Truncate String

[Markshall]

I know this is very basic, but it seems to be a common question that people ask me: "how to truncate a string in PHP" -- basically, how do I cut a string after a certain length?

Well it's simple, I created a function for you all to use if you wish that will cut a string off after a certain length that you choose.

The usage is very easy and is demonstrated in the code snippet below:

<?php
function truncate( $str, $allowed_length=10 )
{
    return substr( trim( $str ), 0, $allowed_length ); //return the truncated value
}

echo truncate( "Mark Eriksson is the best person ever!" ); //output: Mark Eriks
echo truncate( "Mark Eriksson is the best person ever!", 25 ); //output: Mark Eriksson is the best
?>

I hope that this helps you if you choose to use it.

Mark.

[MentaL]

[s-p-n]

Why do you use trim? (I know what it does, wanna know 'why' you think I don't want white-space?)

[SheenBR]

would be nice if you add the white-spaces removal like this:

function truncate( $str, $allowed_length=10,$remove_spaces=false ) 

false by default

[AngraMainyu]

Your code wraps substr() by supplying two of its parameters for the user, one of which is completely arbitrary would be overridden in almost every scenario anyway. With the added overhead of making two unnecessary function calls -- one for the wrapper and one for trim() -- I can't imagine how a function like this could be any less useful.

[SheenBR]

well, why dont you make one then?

[AngraMainyu]

There's no need to wrap substr() to begin with.

[SheenBR]

well, I have to agree with you in that.

[Markshall]

I like the idea of the $remove_spaces, that's a good idea.

Made a little expansion on it and included SheenBRs idea:

<?php 
function truncate( $str, $allowed_length=10, $remove_spaces=false, $after_str="" ) 
{ 
    /*
        $str - the string to truncate
        $allowed_length - the amount of characters to limit to
        $remove_spaces - use trim() to remove white-space
        $after_str - another string to appear after the truncation, could be '...' if you like, so you could have a snippet of a story with "..." at the end
    */
    $str = ( $remove_spaces == true ) ? trim( $str ) : $str;
    
    $return = substr( $str, 0, $allowed_length );
    if ( !empty( $after_str ) ) $return .= $after_str;
    
    return $return;
} 

echo truncate( "Mark Eriksson is the best person ever!" ); //output: Mark Eriks 
echo truncate( "Mark Eriksson is the best person ever!", 25 ); //output: Mark Eriksson is the best
echo truncate( "Mark Eriksson is the best person ever!", 25, false, "..." ); //output: Mark Eriksson is the best...
echo truncate( "   Mark Eriksson is the best person ever!  ", 20, true, "..." ); //output: Mark Eriksson is the...
?>

[Yamachi]

As the others have pointed out, what is the purpose of writing a function that is simply a wrapper around a pre-existing function? That would be like me writing

def write(message) puts message end

and then using

write "asd"

instead of

puts "asd"

Pointless... Just stick with using substr; That's what it was made for. Also, why would you set the default length to 10? Who would want a method that lets you grab only the first 10 characters of a string? I understand you're trying to get better with PHP and you're trying to help people, but this doesn't help anyone. I appreciate the gesture, though.

BTW, you don't need to add the "== true" when using a boolean in a conditional. Simply using "if ($my_bool)" works fine and is cleaner.

[Markshall]

As the others have pointed out, what is the purpose of writing a function that is simply a wrapper around a pre-existing function? That would be like me writing

def write(message) puts message end

and then using

write "asd"

instead of

puts "asd"

Pointless... Just stick with using substr; That's what it was made for. Also, why would you set the default length to 10? Who would want a method that lets you grab only the first 10 characters of a string? I understand you're trying to get better with PHP and you're trying to help people, but this doesn't help anyone. I appreciate the gesture, though.

BTW, you don't need to add the "== true" when using a boolean in a conditional. Simply using "if ($my_bool)" works fine and is cleaner.

I only used 10 characters as the default because the string I had used "Mark Eriksson blah blah" wasn't that long, so I chose 10 instead.

I understand that 'if ( $my_bool )' works the same -- Lord knows what made me put == true lol