[PHP] Trim a string by length

Hitch · 04-26-2011, 09:46 AM

Hi, i wrote this today so though i'd share it.

Trim a string to a certain length
This function lets you trim a string to a specified length, either by character length, or by keeping whole words intact.

Example
We will be trimming this sentence...

Quote:

Hello, my name is Adrian Crepaz.

Trimmed to 19 Characters.

Quote:

Hello, my name is A...

Trimmed to a maximum 19 Characters, but keeping words whole.

Quote:

Hello, my name is...

PHP Code:

  <?php

 
// Created by Adrian at Cueburst.com

 
define('CHARS', null);

define('WORDS', null);

 
function str_trim($string, $method = 'WORDS', $length = 25, $pattern = '...')

{

    if(!is_numeric($length))

    {

        $length = 25;

    }

    

    if(strlen($string) <= $length)

    {

        return $string;

    }

    else

    {

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/code/712577-php-trim-a-string-by-length.html
        switch($method)

        {

            case CHARS:

                return substr($string, 0, $length) . $pattern;    

            break;

        

            case WORDS:

                if (strstr($string, ' ') == false) 

                {

                    return str_trim($string, CHARS, $length, $pattern);

                }

            

                $count = 0;

                $truncated = '';

                $word = explode(" ", $string);

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577
                

                foreach($word AS $single)

                {            

                    if($count < $length)

                    {

                        if(($count + strlen($single)) <= $length)

                        {

                            $truncated .= $single . ' ';

                            $count = $count + strlen($single);

                            $count++;

                        }

                        else if(($count + strlen($single)) >= $length)

                        {

                            break;

                        }

                    }

                }

                        

                return rtrim($truncated) . $pattern;

            break;

        }

    }

}

 
?>

Using the function
str_trim( string, method, length, separator)

String - This is the string to trim
Method - WORDS / CHARS - This lets you choose how to trim, by characters (string length), or maximum length (keeping whole words)
Length - How maximum length of the string
Separator - How to trim a sentence, usually ...

Default Method = WORDS, Length = 25, Separator = ... as default
You only need to specify the string.

PHP Code:

  <?php

    

    $string = "Hello, this is an example";

    

    echo str_trim($string);

    // Returns trimmed string with defaults above

        

    echo str_trim($string, CHARS, 43, '...');

    // With different options

    

?>

It's simple to use. Enjoy.

UPDATED: It now adds the spaces into the character count, plus cleanup.

Hitch · 04-27-2011, 06:12 AM

Fixed a bug.

cipcip · 04-27-2011, 06:50 AM

Or you can simply use:

Code:

$description = "Some example here";
echo '.substr($description, 0, 6).';

This will result in:
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577

Code:

Some e

If you want to add some dots like "Some e...", add them in the echo.

Hitch · 04-27-2011, 07:53 AM

But that wouldn't work if you wanted to keep whole words.
Like vBulletin does on the last post info.

***Dotmainer*** · 04-27-2011, 12:03 PM

Nice sample. Thumbs up for posting. Respect.

Personally i would use: strpos & strrev.

something like:

$MyStr="Hello there how are you"
to cut to 14

1. $MyStr = substr($MyStr,1,14) // "Hello there ho"
2. $MyStr=strrev($MyStr)
3. $SpacePos=strpos($MyStr,' ')
3,5. $MyStr=strrev($MyStr)
4. $MyStr=(substr($MyStr,1,(strlen($MyStr)-$SpacePos)))

(untested)
But just my 2 cents ;-)

**Eric** · 04-27-2011, 12:29 PM

Nice function Adrian, made some changes

PHP Code:

  // Created by Adrian @ Cueburst.com

 
// Trim a string to a certain length.

// With the ability to keep whole words.

 
define('CHARS', 0);

define('WORDS', 1);

 
function str_trim($string, $method = 1, $length = 25, $pattern = '...')

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577
{

    $truncate = $string;

 
    if (!is_numeric($length))

    {

        $length = 25;

    }

 
    if (strlen($string) <= $length)

    {

        return $truncate;

    }

 
    switch ($method)

    {

        case CHARS:

            $truncate = substr($string, 0, $length) . $pattern;

               break;

        case WORDS:

            if (strstr($string, ' ') == false)

            {

                $truncate = str_trim($string, CHARS, $length, $pattern);

            }

            else

            {

                $count = 0;

                $truncated = '';

 
                $word = explode(' ', $string);

 
                foreach ($word AS $single)

                {

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577
                    if ($count >= $length)

                    {

                        // Do nothing...

                        continue;

                    }

 
                    if (($count + strlen($single)) <= $length)

                    {

                        $truncated .= $single . ' ';

                        $count = $count + strlen($single);

                    }

                    else if (($count + strlen($single)) >= $length)

                    {

                        break;

                    }

                }

                $truncate = rtrim($truncated) . $pattern;

            }

            break;

    }

    return $truncate;

}

Hitch · 04-27-2011, 02:16 PM

Thanks for the comments, + that code looks much tidier SV.

Dotmainer, never thought of doing it that way, will consider that way in future. :tup:

Hitch · 10-25-2011, 02:54 AM

Updated: The function now includes spaces into the character count, and general code cleanup.

RSKK · 10-28-2011, 02:45 PM

wow thanks for this tips

4pm · 02-18-2012, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by Eric

Nice function Adrian, made some changes

your algorithm is very ineffective - imagine you've got file with xx millions words and very long $length=100000, beginning from the start, cycling thru words/exploding large array is slow and resource demanding.

much faster and clean way of doing the same thing would be imho:

PHP Code:

  <?php

function trimstr($string, $length=25, $method='WORDS', $pattern='...') {
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577

    if (!is_numeric($length)) { 
            $length = 25; 
        } 

    if (strlen($string) =< $length) { 
            return rtrim($string) . $pattern; 
        }

    $truncate = substr($string, 0, $length); 

    if ($method != 'WORDS') { 
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577
            return rtrim($truncate) . $pattern; 
        }

    if ($truncate[$length-1] == ' ') { 
            return rtrim($truncate) . $pattern; 
        } 
        // we got ' ' right where we want it

    $pos = strrpos($truncate, ' '); 
        // lets find nearest right ' ' in the truncated string

    if (!$pos) { return $pattern; } 
        // no ' ' (one word) or it resides at the very begining 
        // of the string so the whole string goes to the toilet

    return rtrim(substr($truncate, 0, $pos)) . $pattern; 
        // profit
}

?>

*sorry the thread is somewhat old - i didnt notice that

anyway...

04-27-2011, 06:50 AM	#3 (permalink)
cipcip NamePros Regular Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Constanta, Romania Posts: 502	Or you can simply use: Code: $description = "Some example here"; echo '.substr($description, 0, 6).'; This will result in: ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577 Code: Some e If you want to add some dots like "Some e...", add them in the echo. __________________ Social networking aggregator

04-27-2011, 12:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
*Dotmainer* Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,358	Nice sample. Thumbs up for posting. Respect. Personally i would use: strpos & strrev. something like: $MyStr="Hello there how are you" to cut to 14 1. $MyStr = substr($MyStr,1,14) // "Hello there ho" 2. $MyStr=strrev($MyStr) 3. $SpacePos=strpos($MyStr,' ') 3,5. $MyStr=strrev($MyStr) 4. $MyStr=(substr($MyStr,1,(strlen($MyStr)-$SpacePos))) (untested) But just my 2 cents ;-) __________________ █ UniquePSD / YourPetCommunity... █ █

10-28-2011, 02:45 PM	#9 (permalink)
RSKK NamePros Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 83	wow thanks for this tips __________________ biokrby spoločenské šaty nalepky na stenu

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04-27-2011, 06:12 AM	THREAD STARTER #2 (permalink)
Hitch Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Uk, South Yorkshire Posts: 1,228 Follow @adrianc333	Fixed a bug.

04-27-2011, 07:53 AM	THREAD STARTER #4 (permalink)
Hitch Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Uk, South Yorkshire Posts: 1,228 Follow @adrianc333	But that wouldn't work if you wanted to keep whole words. Like vBulletin does on the last post info.

04-27-2011, 12:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
Eric Tech Support Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4,944	Nice function Adrian, made some changes PHP Code: // Created by Adrian @ Cueburst.com // Trim a string to a certain length. // With the ability to keep whole words. define('CHARS', 0); define('WORDS', 1); function str_trim($string, $method = 1, $length = 25, $pattern = '...') ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577 { $truncate = $string; if (!is_numeric($length)) { $length = 25; } if (strlen($string) <= $length) { return $truncate; } switch ($method) { case CHARS: $truncate = substr($string, 0, $length) . $pattern; break; case WORDS: if (strstr($string, ' ') == false) { $truncate = str_trim($string, CHARS, $length, $pattern); } else { $count = 0; $truncated = ''; $word = explode(' ', $string); foreach ($word AS $single) { ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=712577 if ($count >= $length) { // Do nothing... continue; } if (($count + strlen($single)) <= $length) { $truncated .= $single . ' '; $count = $count + strlen($single); } else if (($count + strlen($single)) >= $length) { break; } } $truncate = rtrim($truncated) . $pattern; } break; } return $truncate; }

04-27-2011, 02:16 PM	THREAD STARTER #7 (permalink)
Hitch Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Uk, South Yorkshire Posts: 1,228 Follow @adrianc333	Thanks for the comments, + that code looks much tidier SV. Dotmainer, never thought of doing it that way, will consider that way in future. :tup:

10-25-2011, 02:54 AM	THREAD STARTER #8 (permalink)
Hitch Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Uk, South Yorkshire Posts: 1,228 Follow @adrianc333	Updated: The function now includes spaces into the character count, and general code cleanup.

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