PHP STRINGS FUNCTION

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function.

Function Description

addcslashes() Returns a string with backslashes in front of the specified characters

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello, my name is Kai Jim.";
echo $str."<br />";
echo addcslashes($str,'m')."<br />";
echo addcslashes($str,'K')."<br />";
?>

OutputHello, my name is Kai Jim.

Hello, \my na\me is Kai Ji\m.
Hello, my name is \Kai Jim.

addslashes() Returns a string with backslashes in front of predefined characters

Example

<?php
$str = "Who's Kai Jim?";
echo $str . " This is not safe in a database query.<br />";
echo addslashes($str) . " This is safe in a database query.";
?>

OutputWho's Kai Jim? This is not safe in a database query.

Who\'s Kai Jim? This is safe in a database query.

bin2hex() Converts a string of ASCII characters to hexadecimal values

Example

<?php
$str = "a";
echo bin2hex($str) . "<br />";
echo pack("H*",’61’) . "<br />";
?>

Output 61
a

chop() Alias of rtrim()

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello World!\n\n";
 echo $str;
echo chop($str);
?>

OutputHello World! Hello World!

chr() Returns a character from a specified ASCII value

Example

<?php
echo chr(52)."<br />";
echo chr(052)."<br />";
echo chr(0x52)."<br />";
?>

Output4 * R

chunk_split() Splits a string into a series of smaller parts

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello world!";
echo chunk_split($str,1,".");
?>

OutputH.e.l.l.o. .w.o.r.l.d.!.

convert_cyr_string() Converts a string from one Cyrillic character-set to another

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello world! æøå";
echo $str."<br />";
echo convert_cyr_string($str,'w','a');
?>

OutputHello world! æøå

Hello world! �.���

convert_uudecode() Decodes a uuencoded string

Example

<?php
$str = ",2&5L;&\@=V]R;&0A `";
echo convert_uudecode($str);
?>
 OutputHello world!

convert_uuencode() Encodes a string using the uuencode algorithm

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello world!";
echo convert_uuencode($str);
?>

Output,2&5L;&\@=V]R;&0A `

count_chars() Returns how many times an ASCII character occurs within a string
and returns the information

Example

<?php

$str="aaaaabbbbcc";

print_r(count_chars($str,1));
?>

Output

Array ( [97] => 5 [98] => 4 [99] => 2 )

crc32() Calculates a 32-bit CRC for a string

Example

<?php
$str = crc32("Hello world!");
echo 'Without %u: '.$str."<br />";
echo 'With %u: ';
printf("%u",$str);
?>

Output

Without %u: 461707669

With %u: 461707669

One-way string encryption (hashing)

Example

<?php
if (CRYPT_STD_DES == 1){
crypt()
echo "Standard DES: ".crypt("hello world")."\n<br />";
}
else{
 echo "Standard DES not supported.\n<br />";
}
if (CRYPT_EXT_DES == 1){
echo "Extended DES: ".crypt("hello world")."\n<br />";
}
else{
echo "Extended DES not supported.\n<br />";
}
if (CRYPT_MD5 == 1){
echo "MD5: ".crypt("hello world")."\n<br />";
}
else{
echo "MD5 not supported.\n<br />";
}
if (CRYPT_BLOWFISH == 1){
echo "Blowfish: ".crypt("hello world");
}
else{
echo "Blowfish DES not supported.";
}
?>

OutputStandard DES: $1$xc3.m61.$m64e6837acBtluUebIt3L.

Extended DES not supported.
MD5: $1$1i2..22.$Eko3fsmLl50.m5Ej8Sieh0
Blowfish DES not supported.

echo() Outputs strings

Example

<?php
$str = "Who's Kai Jim?";
echo $str;
echo "<br />";
echo $str."<br />I don't know!";
?>

OutputWho's Kai Jim?

Who's Kai Jim?
I don't know!

Breaks a string into an array

explode() Example

<?php
$str = "Hello world. It's a beautiful day.";
print_r (explode(" ",$str));
?>
 OutputArray ( [0] => Hello [1] => world. [2] => It's [3] => a [4]
=> beautiful [5] => day. )

fprintf() Writes a formatted string to a specified output stream

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello";
$number = 123;
$file = fopen("test.txt","w");
echo fprintf($file,"%s world. Day number %u",$str,$number);
?>

Output27

get_html_translation_table() Returns the translation table used by htmlspecialchars() and

htmlentities()

Example

<?php
print_r (get_html_translation_table());
echo "<br />";
print_r (get_html_translation_table(HTML_ENTITIES));
?>

Output

Array ( ["] => " [<] =>< [>] =>> [&] =>& )
Array ( [�] => [�] => ¡ [�] => ¢ [�] => £ [�] => ¤ [�] => ¥
[�] => ¦ [�] => § [�] => ¨ [�] => © [�] => ª [�] => « [�] =>
¬ [�] => [�] => ® [�] => ¯ [�] => ° [�] => ± [�] => ² [�] =>
³ [�] => ´ [�] => µ [�] => ¶ [�] => · [�] => ¸ [�] => ¹ [�]
=>º [�] => » [�] => ¼ [�] => ½ [�] => ¾ [�] => ¿ [�] => À
[�] => Á [�] => Â [�] => Ã [�] => Ä [�] => Å [�] => Æ [�] =>
Ç [�] => È [�] => É [�] => Ê [�] => Ë [�] => Ì [�] => Í [�] =>
Î [�] => Ï [�] => Ð [�] => Ñ [�] => Ò [�] => Ó [�] => Ô [�]
=> Õ [�] => Ö [�] => × [�] => Ø [�] => Ù [�] => Ú [�] => Û
[�] => Ü [�] => Ý [�] => Þ [�] => ß [�] => à [�] => á [�] =>
â [�] => ã [�] => ä [�] => å [�] => æ [�] => ç [�] => è [�]
=> é [�] => ê [�] => ë [�] => ì [�] => í [�] => î [�] => ï [�]
=> ð [�] => ñ [�] => ò [�] => ó [�] => ô [�] => õ [�] => ö
[�] => ÷ [�] => ø [�] => ù [�] => ú [�] => û [�] => ü [�] =>
ý [�] => þ [�] => ÿ ["] => " [<] =>< [>] =>> [&] =>& )

hebrev() Converts Hebrew text to visual text

Example
 <?php
echo hebrev("á çùåï äúùñâ");
?>

Output�á çùåï äúùñ�

hebrevc() Converts Hebrew text to visual text and new lines (\n) into <br />

Example

<?php
echo hebrevc("á çùåï äúùñâ\ná çùåï äúùñâ");
?>//Output�á çùåï äúùñ�
�á çùåï äúùñ�

Converts HTML entities to characters

Example

html_entity_decode() <?php
$str = "Jane &amp; &#039;Tarzan&#039;";
echo html_entity_decode($str);
echo "<br />";
echo html_entity_decode($str, ENT_QUOTES);
echo "<br />";
echo html_entity_decode($str, ENT_NOQUOTES);
?>

Output

Jane & 'Tarzan'

Jane & 'Tarzan'
Jane & 'Tarzan'

htmlentities() Converts characters to HTML entities

Example

<?php
$str = "Jane & 'Tarzan'";
echo htmlentities($str, ENT_COMPAT);
echo "<br />";
echo htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES);
echo "<br />";
echo htmlentities($str, ENT_NOQUOTES);
?>

OutputJane & 'Tarzan'

Jane & 'Tarzan'
Jane & 'Tarzan'

htmlspecialchars_decode() Converts some predefined HTML entities to characters

 Example

<?php
$str = "Jane &amp; &#039;Tarzan&#039;";
echo htmlspecialchars_decode($str);
echo "<br />";
echo htmlspecialchars_decode($str, ENT_QUOTES);
echo "<br />";
echo htmlspecialchars_decode($str, ENT_NOQUOTES);
?>

OutputJane & 'Tarzan'

Jane & 'Tarzan'
Jane & 'Tarzan'

htmlspecialchars() Converts some predefined characters to HTML entities

Example

<?php
$str = "Jane & 'Tarzan'";
echo htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_COMPAT);
echo "<br />";
echo htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_QUOTES);
echo "<br />";
echo htmlspecialchars($str, ENT_NOQUOTES);
?>

Output

Jane & 'Tarzan'

Jane & 'Tarzan'
Jane & 'Tarzan'

Returns a string from the elements of an array

Example

implode() <?php
$arr = array('Hello','World!','Beautiful','Day!');
echo implode(" ",$arr);
?>

OutputHello World! Beautiful Day!

join() Alias of implode()

Example

<?php
$arr = array('Hello','World!','Beautiful','Day!');
 echo join(" ",$arr);
?>

OutputHello World! Beautiful Day!

levenshtein() Returns the Levenshtein distance between two strings

Example

<?php
echo levenshtein("Hello World","ello World");
echo "<br />";
echo levenshtein("Hello World","ello World",10,20,30);
?>

Output

1
30

localeconv() Returns locale numeric and monetary formatting information

Example

<?php
setlocale(LC_ALL, 'US');
$locale_info = localeconv();
print_r($locale_info);
?>

Output

Array ( [decimal_point] => . [thousands_sep] => , [int_curr_symbol]

=> USD [currency_symbol] => $ [mon_decimal_point] => .
[mon_thousands_sep] => , [positive_sign] => [negative_sign] => -
[int_frac_digits] => 2 [frac_digits] => 2 [p_cs_precedes] => 1
[p_sep_by_space] => 0 [n_cs_precedes] => 1 [n_sep_by_space] =>
0 [p_sign_posn] => 3 [n_sign_posn] => 0 [grouping] => Array ( [0]
=> 3 ) [mon_grouping] => Array ( [0] => 3 ) )

ltrim() Strips whitespace from the left side of a string

Example

<?php
$str = " Hello World!";
echo "Without ltrim: " . $str;
echo "<br />";
echo "With ltrim: " . ltrim($str);
?>

Output
 Without ltrim: Hello World!
With ltrim: Hello World!

md5() Calculates the MD5 hash of a string

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello";
echo md5($str);
?>

Output8b1a9953c4611296a827abf8c47804d7

md5_file() Calculates the MD5 hash of a file

Example

<?php
$filename = "test.txt";
$md5file = md5_file($filename);
echo $md5file;
?>

Output8d75db5b6b096ff2096f895a57627b98

metaphone() Calculates the metaphone key of a string

Example

<?php
echo metaphone("world");
?>

OutputWRLT

money_format() Returns a string formatted as a currency string

Example

<?php
$number = 1234.56;
setlocale(LC_MONETARY, "en_US");
echo money_format("The price is %i", $number);
?>

OutputThe price is USD 1,234.56

Note: -The money_format() function does not work on Windows

platforms.

nl2br() Inserts HTML line breaks in front of each newline in a string

 Example

<?php
echo nl2br("One line.\nAnother line.");
?>

Output

One line.
Another line.

number_format() Formats a number with grouped thousands

Example

<?php
echo number_format("1000000");
echo "<br />";
echo number_format("1000000",2);
echo "<br />";
echo number_format("1000000",2,",",".");
?>

Output

1,000,000
1,000,000.00
1.000.000,00

ord() Returns the ASCII value of the first character of a string

Example

<?php
echo ord("h")."<br />";
echo ord("hello")."<br />";
?>

Output

104
104

Parses a query string into variables

parse_str() Example

<?php
parse_str("id=23&name=Kai%20Jim");
echo $id."<br />";
echo $name;
?>
 Output23
Kai Jim

print() Outputs a string

Example

<?php

$str = "Who's Kai Jim?";

print $str;

print "<br />";

print $str."<br />I don't know!";

?>

Output

Who's Kai Jim?

Who's Kai Jim?
I don't know!

printf() Outputs a formatted string

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello";
$number = 123;
printf("%s world. Day number %u",$str,$number);
?>

OutputHello world. Day number 123

quoted_printable_decode() Decodes a quoted-printable string

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello=0Aworld.";
echo quoted_printable_decode($str);
?>

OutputHello world.

quotemeta() Quotes meta characters

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello world. (can you hear me?)";
 echo quotemeta($str);
?>

OutputHello world\. \(can you hear me\?\)

rtrim() Strips whitespace from the right side of a string

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello World! ";
echo "Without rtrim: " . $str;
echo "<br />";
echo "With rtrim: " . rtrim($str);
?>

OutputWithout rtrim: Hello World!

With rtrim: Hello World!

Sets locale information

Example

setlocale() <?php
echo setlocale(LC_ALL,"En-Us");
echo "<br />";
echo setlocale(LC_ALL,NULL);
?>

OutputEnglish_United States.1252

sha1() Calculates the SHA-1 hash of a string

Example

<?php

$str = 'Hello';

echo sha1($str);

?>

Outputf7ff9e8b7bb2e09b70935a5d785e0cc5d9d0abf0

sha1_file() Calculates the SHA-1 hash of a file

Example

<?php

$filename = "test.txt";
$sha1file = sha1_file($filename);
echo $sha1file;
?>
similar_text() Calculates the similarity between two strings

Example
<?php
echo similar_text("Hello World","Hello Peter");
?>

Output 7

soundex() Calculates the soundex key of a string

Example

<?php
$str = "hello";
echo soundex($str);
?>

OutputH400

sprintf() Writes a formatted string to a variable

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello";
$number = 123;
$txt = sprintf("%s world. Day number %u",$str,$number);
echo $txt;
?>//OutputHello world. Day number 123

sscanf() Parses input from a string according to a format

Example

<?php
$string = "age:30 weight:60kg";
sscanf($string,"age:%d weight:%dkg",$age,$weight);
// show types and values
var_dump($age,$weight);
?>

Outputint(30) int(60)

str_ireplace() Replaces some characters in a string (case-insensitive)

Example

<?php
echo str_ireplace("WORLD","Peter","Hello world!");
?>

OutputHello Peter!
str_pad() Pads a string to a new length

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello World";
echo str_pad($str,20,".");
?>

OutputHello World.........

str_repeat() Repeats a string a specified number of times

Example

<?php
echo str_repeat("p",13);
?>

Outputppppppppppppp

str_replace() Replaces some characters in a string (case-sensitive)

Example

<?php
echo str_replace("world","Peter","Hello world!");
?>

OutputHello Peter!

str_rot13() Performs the ROT13 encoding on a string

Example

<?php
echo str_rot13("Hello World");
echo "<br />";
echo str_rot13("Uryyb Jbeyq");
?>

OutputUryyb Jbeyq
Hello World
str_shuffle() Randomly shuffles all characters in a string

Example

<?php
echo str_shuffle("Hello World");
?>
str_split() Splits a string into an array

Example
 <?php
print_r(str_split("Hello"));
?>

OutputArray ( [0] => H [1] => e [2] => l [3] => l [4] => o )
str_word_count() Count the number of words in a string
Example
<?php
echo str_word_count("Hello world!");
?>

Output 2
Compares two strings (case-insensitive)

Example

strcasecmp() <?php
echo strcasecmp("Hello world!","HELLO WORLD!");
?>

Output 0

strchr() Finds the first occurrence of a string inside another string (alias of
strstr())

Example

<?php
echo strchr("Hello world!","world");
?>

Outputworld!

strcmp() Compares two strings (case-sensitive)

Example

<?php
echo strcmp("Hello world!","Hello world!");
?>

Output 0

strcoll() Locale based string comparison

Example

<?php
setlocale (LC_COLLATE, 'NL');
echo strcoll("Hello World!","Hello WORLD!");
echo "<br />";
setlocale (LC_COLLATE, 'en_US');
 echo strcoll("Hello World!","Hello WORLD!");
?>

Output:

1
1

strcspn() Returns the number of characters found in a string before any part of
some specified characters are found

Example

<?php
echo strcspn("Hello world!","w");
?>

Output 6

strip_tags() Strips HTML and PHP tags from a string

Example

<?php
echo strip_tags("Hello <b>world!</b>");
?>

OutputHello world!

stripcslashes() Unquotes a string quoted with addcslashes()

Example

<?php
echo stripcslashes("Hello, \my na\me is Kai Ji\m.");
?>

OutputHello, my name is Kai Jim.

stripslashes() Unquotes a string quoted with addslashes()

Example

<?php
echo stripslashes("Who\'s Kai Jim?");
?>

OutputWho's Kai Jim?

stripos() Returns the position of the first occurrence of a string inside another
string (case-insensitive)

Example
 <?php
echo stripos("Hello world!","WO");
?>

Output 6

stristr() Finds the first occurrence of a string inside another string (case-
insensitive)

Example

<?php
echo stristr("Hello world!","WORLD");
?>

Outputworld!

strlen() Returns the length of a string

Example

<?php
echo strlen("Hello world!");
?>

Output 12

strnatcasecmp() Compares two strings using a "natural order" algorithm (case-

insensitive)

Example

<?php
echo strnatcasecmp("2Hello world!","10Hello world!");
echo "<br />";
echo strnatcasecmp("10Hello world!","2Hello world!");
?>

Output-1
1

strnatcmp() Compares two strings using a "natural order" algorithm (case-

sensitive)

Example

<?php

echo strnatcasecmp("2Hello world!","10Hello world!");

echo "<br />";

echo strnatcasecmp("10Hello world!","2Hello world!");

 ?>

Output

-1

strncasecmp() String comparison of the first n characters (case-insensitive)

Example

<?php
echo strncasecmp("Hello world!","hello earth!",6);
?>

Output 0

strncmp() String comparison of the first n characters (case-sensitive)

Example

<?php
echo strncmp("Hello world!","Hello earth!",6);
?>

Output 0

Searches a string for any of a set of characters

Example

<?php
echo strpbrk("Hello world!","oe");
strpbrk()
?>

Outputello world!

strpos() Returns the position of the first occurrence of a string inside another
string (case-sensitive)

Example

<?php
echo strpos("Hello world!","wo");
?>

Output 6

strrchr() Finds the last occurrence of a string inside another string

Example
 <?php
echo strrchr("Hello world!","world");
?>

Outputworld!

strrev() Reverses a string

Example

<?php
echo strrev("Hello World!");
?>

Output!dlroW olleH

strripos() Finds the position of the last occurrence of a string inside another
string (case-insensitive)

Example

<?php
echo strripos("Hello world!","WO");
?>

Output 6

strrpos() Finds the position of the last occurrence of a string inside another
string (case-sensitive)

Example

<?php
echo strrpos("Hello world!","wo");
?>

Output 6

strspn() Returns the number of characters found in a string that contains only
characters from a specified charlist

Example

<?php
echo strspn("Hello world!","kHlleo");
?>

Output 5

strstr() Finds the first occurrence of a string inside another string (case-
sensitive)

Example
 <?php
echo strstr("Hello world!","world");
?>

Outputworld!

Splits a string into smaller strings

Example

strtok() <?php
$string = "Hello world. Beautiful day today.";
$token = strtok($string, " ");
while ($token != false)
{
echo "$token<br />";
$token = strtok(" ");
}

?>

OutputHello
world.
Beautiful
day
today.

strtolower() Converts a string to lowercase letters

Example

<?php
echo strtolower("Hello WORLD.");
?>

Outputhello world.

strtoupper() Converts a string to uppercase letters

Example

<?php
echo strtoupper("Hello WORLD!");
?>

OutputHELLO WORLD!

strtr() Translates certain characters in a string

Example
 <?php
echo strtr("Hilla Warld","ia","eo");
?>

OutputHello World

substr() Returns a part of a string

Example

<?php
echo substr("Hello world!",6);
?>//Outputworld!

substr_compare() Compares two strings from a specified start position (binary safe and
optionally case-sensitive)

Example

<?php
echo substr_compare("Hello world","Hello world",0);
?>

Output 0

substr_count() Counts the number of times a substring occurs in a string

Example

<?php
echo substr_count("Hello world. The world is nice","world");

?>

Output 2

substr_replace() Replaces a part of a string with another string

Example

<?php
echo substr_replace("Hello world","earth",6);
?>

OutputHello earth

trim() Strips whitespace from both sides of a string

Example

<?php
$str = " Hello World! ";
echo "Without trim: " . $str;
echo "<br />";
 echo "With trim: " . trim($str);
?>

OutputWithout trim: Hello World!

With trim: Hello World!

ucfirst() Converts the first character of a string to uppercase

Example

<?php
echo ucfirst("hello world");
?>

OutputHello world

ucwords() Converts the first character of each word in a string to uppercase

Example

<?php
echo ucwords("hello world");
?>

OutputHello World

vfprintf() Writes a formatted string to a specified output stream

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello";
$number = 123;
$file = fopen("test.txt","w");
echo vfprintf($file,"%s world. Day number
%u",array($str,$number));
?>

Output 27

(test.txt will be written “Hello world. Day number 123”)

vprintf() Outputs a formatted string

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello";
$number = 123;
vprintf("%s world. Day number %u",array($str,$number));
?>

OutputHello world. Day number 123

vsprintf() Writes a formatted string to a variable

Example

<?php
$str = "Hello";
$number = 123;
$txt = vsprintf("%s world. Day number %u",array($str,$number));
echo $txt;
?>

OutputHello world. Day number 123

wordwrap() Wraps a string to a given number of characters

Example

<?php
$str = "An example on a long word is: Supercalifragulistic";
echo wordwrap($str,15);
?>

OutputAn example on a long word is: Supercalifragulistic