PHP - How to append "..." to a string of varying length at a certain point? e.g. After 200 chars

Question

i have a mysql database and a table full of information, specifically a column of product descriptions. This column is used in my scripts twice. Its max length is 1000 characters.

One of the uses for this information is a brief description of any given product. I would like to display a shortened version of the description that I have just mentioned, so it will be say for instance 200 characters long.

Now, using PHP I would like to append the string with "..." (3 dots) at the point where it reaches 200 characters. So basically only the first 200 characters are displayed.

How would I go about something like this? I am sure it will be a fairly simple task but the internet is a big place to look for something you don't know the name of :)

If anyone could help in this regard, with an example or some links relating to the relevant functions that would be great. Thanks a lot!

This may be a duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/972010/shorten-string-in-php-full-words-only — fdomig, Jul 09 '12 at 08:42
@fdomig Hi, I assure you that this is no duplicate... I am just wondering because I am stuck with this part of my project, so if you would like to share your input that would be great... — Craig van Tonder, Jul 09 '12 at 08:43
@fdomig thank you for your input, I am reading through your link now. — Craig van Tonder, Jul 09 '12 at 08:50

score 7 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 09 '12 at 13:54

7

You can achieve this using substr.

$string = substr($string,0,197) . "...";

edited Jul 09 '12 at 13:54

fresskoma

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answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:43

Conner

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Thanks for your reply, but could you please explain what is going on here? – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:45
@BlackberryFan as it seems your too lazy to look in a manual [here is a link for you](http://php.net/manual/en/function.substr.php) – Manse Jul 09 '12 at 08:46
`substr(input, begin, end)` strips characters of a string, in this case it gets the characters from position 0 till position 197. Then it adds `'...'` to the string to finish it off. – Tgys Jul 09 '12 at 08:47
@ManseUK Thanks for your input... I have read many a manual, but find that an explanation from someone who isn't so scientifically minded helps me to understand the functions better. – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:47
@BlackberryFan *Returns the portion of string specified by the start and length parameters.* is quite scientific .... – Manse Jul 09 '12 at 08:48
@Conner Actually your answer returns 201 characters. ;) – pvorb Jul 09 '12 at 08:49
Sorry, my mistake. -.- I should have had a look in the manual… :P – pvorb Jul 09 '12 at 08:51
@ManseUK I ask alot of question for my own reference... Its like my own manual of the things i've worked on... This is why I ask questions and will continue to do so... You should have posted an answer friend, Maybe you would have gotten it! – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:51
@BlackberryFan There's a huge manual on php.net - learn to read it if you want to learn PHP. – Tom van der Woerdt Jul 09 '12 at 08:54
@TomvanderWoerdt As I said, its hard to find something you don't know the name of. Please read all of what I have to say before you start jumping to conclusions. But thank you for the input you have provided, it has provided me with understanding, which i appreciate. – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:56
@BlackberryFan That's not what I meant. You say "*but find that an explanation from someone who isn't so scientifically minded helps me to understand the functions better*" so I suggest getting used to it. – Tom van der Woerdt Jul 09 '12 at 09:01
@TomvanderWoerdt Okay man thanks. I just meant that it helps me to understand things better when people who didn't make PHP explain it :) As far as this question goes, I now have two more approaches to think about, so it was more than worth it, if not now then in the future surely. – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 09:05
@TomvanderWoerdt You do not learn things like what Cups has taught me on php.net, Just saying... – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 10:19

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:44

6

This one takes care of strings that aren't actually 200 chars yet.

$string = 'your long string goes here';
if (strlen($string) >= 200) {
    $string = substr($string, 0, 197).'...';
}

Source: php.net/substr

answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:44

Tom van der Woerdt

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Hi and thank you! Could you provide a brief explanation of what is going on here? – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:45

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:46

5

May I give you an alternative made in pure CSS (good for headlines, for example)?

overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis;

cuts off too long text automatically if the element around it is not long / big enough.

answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:46

sascha

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This is, in fact, a good idea. You could then add a `:hover` in the css that would show the full paragraph when you hover the mouse over it. – Tom van der Woerdt Jul 09 '12 at 08:48
Please, don't forget, this is not working in "older" browsers! – sascha Jul 09 '12 at 08:50
@Sn0opy Thanks a lot, I did think about this but I was not sure of how browser friendly this would be. Do you have any info relating to this? – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:54
@BlackberryFan I recommend checking http://w3schools.com by yourself. They've got a huge list of every CSS property and its values including compatibility and issues – sascha Jul 09 '12 at 08:58
@Sn0opy Thanks I will do that, its always nice to hear someone else's opinion though! – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 09:02

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:44

4

$string = 'asd';
$maxLength = 200;
if (mb_strlen($string) > $maxLength) {
    $string = mb_substr($string, 0, $maxLength) . "...";
}

answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:44

Sergey Eremin

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Hi and thank you! Could you provide a brief explanation why your method differs from the others? – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:46
This one counts for multibyte charsets (non-latin characters). – Tom van der Woerdt Jul 09 '12 at 08:47
1

it is multibyte(non-latin and non-ascii) friendly – Sergey Eremin Jul 09 '12 at 08:47
kgb thanks for your input here. I have another question though, would a trademark character be ascii or non? I am not sure if I need this as all descriptions are in English language and contain at the most, a trademark or registered character. – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:49
TM character isn't ASCII and not in latin1 either. – Tom van der Woerdt Jul 09 '12 at 08:53
@TomvanderWoerdt You have a very valid point... I recall having to translate every TM character into #TM# then turning it back into a TM character when making use of the info in my script. I forgot about that... – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 10:28

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:48

2

Only collect 200 characters from your database in the first place.

$sql = "SELECT LEFT(article, 200) as article WHERE ETC ETC "

Then apply something like this, but essentially you need to go back to the previous word end chop off the rest and apend an elipsis.

&#133;

answered Jul 09 '12 at 08:48

Cups

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This is an interesting approach :) Thanks! – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 08:54
"elipsis" I never knew that one, its awesome thanks... The link provided seems to be a really good solution for this too! – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 09:09
Selecting less data would more than likely be the better idea too! – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 09:13
Thanks for your input again, this has proved to be the most useful solution. Selecting only a minimum amount of data, then running it through the function as described in the link creates a really useful process. This is as the string comes out trimmed and neat. I have made the addition to the function of adding multibyte support as described by @kgb in his answer. – Craig van Tonder Jul 09 '12 at 10:06

PHP - How to append "..." to a string of varying length at a certain point? e.g. After 200 chars

5 Answers5