The Text Helper file contains functions that assist in working with Text.
This helper is loaded using the following code:
helper('text');
The following functions are available:
.. php:function:: random_string([$type = 'alnum'[, $len = 8]])
:param string $type: Randomization type
:param int $len: Output string length
:returns: A random string
:rtype: string
Generates a random string based on the type and length you specify.
Useful for creating passwords or generating random hashes.
The first parameter specifies the type of string, the second parameter
specifies the length. The following choices are available:
- **alpha**: A string with lower and uppercase letters only.
- **alnum**: Alpha-numeric string with lower and uppercase characters.
- **basic**: A random number based on ``mt_rand()`` (length ignored).
- **numeric**: Numeric string.
- **nozero**: Numeric string with no zeros.
- **md5**: An encrypted random number based on ``md5()`` (fixed length of 32).
- **sha1**: An encrypted random number based on ``sha1()`` (fixed length of 40).
- **crypto**: A random string based on ``random_bytes()``.
Usage example::
echo random_string('alnum', 16);
.. php:function:: increment_string($str[, $separator = '_'[, $first = 1]])
:param string $str: Input string
:param string $separator: Separator to append a duplicate number with
:param int $first: Starting number
:returns: An incremented string
:rtype: string
Increments a string by appending a number to it or increasing the
number. Useful for creating "copies" or a file or duplicating database
content which has unique titles or slugs.
Usage example::
echo increment_string('file', '_'); // "file_1"
echo increment_string('file', '-', 2); // "file-2"
echo increment_string('file_4'); // "file_5"
.. php:function:: alternator($args)
:param mixed $args: A variable number of arguments
:returns: Alternated string(s)
:rtype: mixed
Allows two or more items to be alternated between, when cycling through
a loop. Example::
for ($i = 0; $i < 10; $i++)
{
echo alternator('string one', 'string two');
}
You can add as many parameters as you want, and with each iteration of
your loop the next item will be returned.
::
for ($i = 0; $i < 10; $i++)
{
echo alternator('one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five');
}
.. note:: To use multiple separate calls to this function simply call the
function with no arguments to re-initialize.
.. php:function:: reduce_double_slashes($str)
:param string $str: Input string
:returns: A string with normalized slashes
:rtype: string
Converts double slashes in a string to a single slash, except those
found in URL protocol prefixes (e.g. http://).
Example::
$string = "http://example.com//index.php";
echo reduce_double_slashes($string); // results in "http://example.com/index.php"
.. php:function:: strip_slashes($data)
:param mixed $data: Input string or an array of strings
:returns: String(s) with stripped slashes
:rtype: mixed
Removes any slashes from an array of strings.
Example::
$str = array(
'question' => 'Is your name O\'reilly?',
'answer' => 'No, my name is O\'connor.'
);
$str = strip_slashes($str);
The above will return the following array::
array(
'question' => "Is your name O'reilly?",
'answer' => "No, my name is O'connor."
);
.. note:: For historical reasons, this function will also accept
and handle string inputs. This however makes it just an
alias for ``stripslashes()``.
.. php:function:: reduce_multiples($str[, $character = ''[, $trim = FALSE]])
:param string $str: Text to search in
:param string $character: Character to reduce
:param bool $trim: Whether to also trim the specified character
:returns: Reduced string
:rtype: string
Reduces multiple instances of a particular character occurring directly
after each other. Example::
$string = "Fred, Bill,, Joe, Jimmy";
$string = reduce_multiples($string,","); //results in "Fred, Bill, Joe, Jimmy"
If the third parameter is set to TRUE it will remove occurrences of the
character at the beginning and the end of the string. Example::
$string = ",Fred, Bill,, Joe, Jimmy,";
$string = reduce_multiples($string, ", ", TRUE); //results in "Fred, Bill, Joe, Jimmy"
.. php:function:: quotes_to_entities($str)
:param string $str: Input string
:returns: String with quotes converted to HTML entities
:rtype: string
Converts single and double quotes in a string to the corresponding HTML
entities. Example::
$string = "Joe's \"dinner\"";
$string = quotes_to_entities($string); //results in "Joe's "dinner""
.. php:function:: strip_quotes($str)
:param string $str: Input string
:returns: String with quotes stripped
:rtype: string
Removes single and double quotes from a string. Example::
$string = "Joe's \"dinner\"";
$string = strip_quotes($string); //results in "Joes dinner"
.. php:function:: word_limiter($str[, $limit = 100[, $end_char = '…']])
:param string $str: Input string
:param int $limit: Limit
:param string $end_char: End character (usually an ellipsis)
:returns: Word-limited string
:rtype: string
Truncates a string to the number of *words* specified. Example::
$string = "Here is a nice text string consisting of eleven words.";
$string = word_limiter($string, 4);
// Returns: Here is a nice
The third parameter is an optional suffix added to the string. By
default it adds an ellipsis.
.. php:function:: character_limiter($str[, $n = 500[, $end_char = '…']])
:param string $str: Input string
:param int $n: Number of characters
:param string $end_char: End character (usually an ellipsis)
:returns: Character-limited string
:rtype: string
Truncates a string to the number of *characters* specified. It
maintains the integrity of words so the character count may be slightly
more or less than what you specify.
Example::
$string = "Here is a nice text string consisting of eleven words.";
$string = character_limiter($string, 20);
// Returns: Here is a nice text string
The third parameter is an optional suffix added to the string, if
undeclared this helper uses an ellipsis.
.. note:: If you need to truncate to an exact number of characters please
see the :php:func:`ellipsize()` function below.
.. php:function:: ascii_to_entities($str)
:param string $str: Input string
:returns: A string with ASCII values converted to entities
:rtype: string
Converts ASCII values to character entities, including high ASCII and MS
Word characters that can cause problems when used in a web page, so that
they can be shown consistently regardless of browser settings or stored
reliably in a database. There is some dependence on your server's
supported character sets, so it may not be 100% reliable in all cases,
but for the most part it should correctly identify characters outside
the normal range (like accented characters).
Example::
$string = ascii_to_entities($string);
.. php:function:: entities_to_ascii($str[, $all = TRUE])
:param string $str: Input string
:param bool $all: Whether to convert unsafe entities as well
:returns: A string with HTML entities converted to ASCII characters
:rtype: string
This function does the opposite of :php:func:`ascii_to_entities()`.
It turns character entities back into ASCII.
.. php:function:: convert_accented_characters($str)
:param string $str: Input string
:returns: A string with accented characters converted
:rtype: string
Transliterates high ASCII characters to low ASCII equivalents. Useful
when non-English characters need to be used where only standard ASCII
characters are safely used, for instance, in URLs.
Example::
$string = convert_accented_characters($string);
.. note:: This function uses a companion config file
`application/Config/ForeignCharacters.php` to define the to and
from array for transliteration.
.. php:function:: word_censor($str, $censored[, $replacement = ''])
:param string $str: Input string
:param array $censored: List of bad words to censor
:param string $replacement: What to replace bad words with
:returns: Censored string
:rtype: string
Enables you to censor words within a text string. The first parameter
will contain the original string. The second will contain an array of
words which you disallow. The third (optional) parameter can contain
a replacement value for the words. If not specified they are replaced
with pound signs: ####.
Example::
$disallowed = array('darn', 'shucks', 'golly', 'phooey');
$string = word_censor($string, $disallowed, 'Beep!');
.. php:function:: highlight_code($str)
:param string $str: Input string
:returns: String with code highlighted via HTML
:rtype: string
Colorizes a string of code (PHP, HTML, etc.). Example::
$string = highlight_code($string);
The function uses PHP's ``highlight_string()`` function, so the
colors used are the ones specified in your php.ini file.
.. php:function:: highlight_phrase($str, $phrase[, $tag_open = '<mark>'[, $tag_close = '</mark>']])
:param string $str: Input string
:param string $phrase: Phrase to highlight
:param string $tag_open: Opening tag used for the highlight
:param string $tag_close: Closing tag for the highlight
:returns: String with a phrase highlighted via HTML
:rtype: string
Will highlight a phrase within a text string. The first parameter will
contain the original string, the second will contain the phrase you wish
to highlight. The third and fourth parameters will contain the
opening/closing HTML tags you would like the phrase wrapped in.
Example::
$string = "Here is a nice text string about nothing in particular.";
echo highlight_phrase($string, "nice text", '<span style="color:#990000;">', '</span>');
The above code prints::
Here is a <span style="color:#990000;">nice text</span> string about nothing in particular.
.. note:: This function used to use the ``<strong>`` tag by default. Older browsers
might not support the new HTML5 mark tag, so it is recommended that you
insert the following CSS code into your stylesheet if you need to support
such browsers::
mark {
background: #ff0;
color: #000;
};
.. php:function:: word_wrap($str[, $charlim = 76])
:param string $str: Input string
:param int $charlim: Character limit
:returns: Word-wrapped string
:rtype: string
Wraps text at the specified *character* count while maintaining
complete words.
Example::
$string = "Here is a simple string of text that will help us demonstrate this function.";
echo word_wrap($string, 25);
// Would produce:
// Here is a simple string
// of text that will help us
// demonstrate this
// function.
Excessively long words will be split, but URLs will not be.
.. php:function:: ellipsize($str, $max_length[, $position = 1[, $ellipsis = '…']])
:param string $str: Input string
:param int $max_length: String length limit
:param mixed $position: Position to split at (int or float)
:param string $ellipsis: What to use as the ellipsis character
:returns: Ellipsized string
:rtype: string
This function will strip tags from a string, split it at a defined
maximum length, and insert an ellipsis.
The first parameter is the string to ellipsize, the second is the number
of characters in the final string. The third parameter is where in the
string the ellipsis should appear from 0 - 1, left to right. For
example. a value of 1 will place the ellipsis at the right of the
string, .5 in the middle, and 0 at the left.
An optional forth parameter is the kind of ellipsis. By default,
… will be inserted.
Example::
$str = 'this_string_is_entirely_too_long_and_might_break_my_design.jpg';
echo ellipsize($str, 32, .5);
Produces::
this_string_is_e…ak_my_design.jpg
.. php:function:: excerpt($text, $phrase = false, $radius = 100, $ellipsis = '...')
:param string $text: Text to extract an excerpt
:param string $phrase: Phrase or word to extract the text arround
:param int $radius: Number of characters before and after $phrase
:param string $ellipsis: What to use as the ellipsis character
:returns: Excerpt.
:rtype: string
This function will extract $radius number of characters before and after the
central $phrase with an elipsis before and after.
The first paramenter is the text to extract an excerpt from, the second is the
central word or phrase to count before and after. The third parameter is the
number of characters to count before and after the central phrase. If no phrase
passed, the excerpt will include the first $radius characters with the elipsis
at the end.
Example::
$text = 'Ut vel faucibus odio. Quisque quis congue libero. Etiam gravida
eros lorem, eget porttitor augue dignissim tincidunt. In eget risus eget
mauris faucibus molestie vitae ultricies odio. Vestibulum id ultricies diam.
Curabitur non mauris lectus. Phasellus eu sodales sem. Integer dictum purus
ac enim hendrerit gravida. Donec ac magna vel nunc tincidunt molestie sed
vitae nisl. Cras sed auctor mauris, non dictum tortor. Nulla vel scelerisque
arcu. Cras ac ipsum sit amet augue laoreet laoreet. Aenean a risus lacus.
Sed ut tortor diam.';
echo excerpt($str, 'Donec');
Produces::
... non mauris lectus. Phasellus eu sodales sem. Integer dictum purus ac
enim hendrerit gravida. Donec ac magna vel nunc tincidunt molestie sed
vitae nisl. Cras sed auctor mauris, non dictum ...