Does this function exist in PHP?

Question

I found myself needing this function, and was wondering if it exists in PHP already.

/**
 * Truncates $str and returns it with $ending on the end, if $str is longer
 * than $limit characters
 *
 * @param string $str
 * @param int $length
 * @param string $ending
 * @return string
 */
function truncate_string($str, $length, $ending = "...")
{
    if (strlen($str) <= $length)
    {
        return $str;
    }
    return substr($str, 0, $length - strlen($ending)).$ending;
}

So if the limit is 40 and the string is "The quick fox jumped over the lazy brown dog", the output would be "The quick fox jumped over the lazy brow...". It seems like the sort of thing that would exist in PHP, so I was surprised when I couldn't find it.

Ron DeVera · Accepted Answer · 2009-03-27 16:14:36Z

5

$suffix = '...';
$maxLength = 40;

if(strlen($str) > $maxLength){
  $str = substr_replace($str, $suffix, $maxLength);
}

Your implementation may vary slightly depending on whether the suffix's length should be count towards the total string length.

edited Mar 27, 2009 at 16:14

answered Mar 27, 2009 at 15:19

Ron DeVera

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2 Comments

Jeremy DeGroot Over a year ago

That's no good because it appends the suffix to a string shorter than $maxLength.

Ron DeVera Over a year ago

True, you'd still have to wrap it in your own function, which only runs substr_replace() based on that condition.

Ólafur Waage · Accepted Answer · 2009-03-27 15:22:41Z

4

Here's the one line version for those interested

<?php 
    echo (strlen($string) > 40 ? substr($string, 0, 37)."..." : $string);
?>

answered Mar 27, 2009 at 15:22

Ólafur Waage

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3 Comments

Jeremy DeGroot Over a year ago

That was my first response, too. Subtract the length of your suffix from your string length though, or else you'll have a 43-character result

TravisO Over a year ago

Good work but imho it's better to use easy to read code than ternary code, unless it's an extreme speed situation where you're looping this a million times.

outis Over a year ago

The ternary operator doesn't give a speed advantage over an if-else block. The main advantage of ?: is that, unlike if-else, it is an expression and can be used where if-else is syntactically invalid.

Macha · Accepted Answer · 2009-03-27 15:18:12Z

2

No it does not exist. Many libraries provide it however as you're not the first to need it. e.g. Smarty

answered Mar 27, 2009 at 15:18

Macha

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Comments

Konstantin Tarkus · Accepted Answer · 2009-03-27 15:18:27Z

1

It doesn't.

answered Mar 27, 2009 at 15:18

Konstantin Tarkus

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