displaying first 50 characters of a mysql text field?

[phpuser32423]

Hi all

I have been searching for hours on the php website for a function that
will allow me to display just the first 50 chars of a mysql text field
in a results table, but i'm having no luck. I need it to create a
results page for a site i'm creating in php. Can anyone help with this
problem?

Kind regards

Marc

[David Haynes]

Re: displaying first 50 characters of a mysql text field?

phpuser32423 wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi all
>
> I have been searching for hours on the php website for a function that
> will allow me to display just the first 50 chars of a mysql text field
> in a results table, but i'm having no luck. I need it to create a
> results page for a site i'm creating in php. Can anyone help with this
> problem?
>
> Kind regards
>
> Marc
>[/color]

$str50 = substr($mystrin g, 0, 50);

-david-

[Geoff Berrow]

Re: displaying first 50 characters of a mysql text field?

I noticed that Message-ID: <0dB6f.4$jW4.3@ fe24.usenetserv er.com> from
David Haynes contained the following:
[color=blue]
>
>$str50 = substr($mystrin g, 0, 50);[/color]

I use this method in a function and if the text is truncated the
function adds '...more' at the end. The function also takes a url so
that the word 'more' can be a link to an expanded version. $length is
obviously the amount you to which you want to truncate. The function
also 'steps back' to avoid truncating in the middle of a word.

<?php
function truncate($value ,$length,$url){
if(strlen($valu e)>$length){
$value=substr($ value,0,$length );
$n=0;
while(substr($v alue,-1)!=chr(32)){
$n++;
$value=substr($ value,0,$length-$n);
}
$value=$value." ...<a href='$url'><em >more</em></a>";
}
return $value;
}
//usage
echo truncate("the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy
dog",15,"http:w ww.example.com? id=someid");
?>
--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/

[phpuser32423]

Re: displaying first 50 characters of a mysql text field?

thanks guys thats a great help

[Craig Storey]

Re: displaying first 50 characters of a mysql text field?

phpuser32423 wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi all
>
> I have been searching for hours on the php website for a function that
> will allow me to display just the first 50 chars of a mysql text field
> in a results table, but i'm having no luck. I need it to create a
> results page for a site i'm creating in php. Can anyone help with this
> problem?
>
> Kind regards
>
> Marc
>[/color]

If you only need the first 50 chars for that field then you can get
MySQL to do the work for you ...

MySQL - Substring: Extracting part of a string

SELECT name, SUBSTRING(name, 0,50) FROM cia WHERE region = 'Asia'

MySQL docs... http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/...functions.html

Craig