+ +
+

String Helper

+

The String Helper file contains functions that assist in working with +strings.

+
+

Important

+

Please note that these functions are NOT intended, nor +suitable to be used for any kind of security-related logic.

+
+ +
+

Loading this Helper

+

This helper is loaded using the following code:

+
$this->load->helper('string');
+
+
+
+
+

Available Functions

+

The following functions are available:

+
+
+random_string([$type = 'alnum'[, $len = 8]])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $type (string) – Randomization type
    • +
  • $len (int) – Output string length
    • +
+
Returns:

A random string

+
Return type:

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().
    • +
  • 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).
    • +
+

Usage example:

+
echo random_string('alnum', 16);
+
+
+
+

Note

+

Usage of the unique and encrypt types is DEPRECATED. They +are just aliases for md5 and sha1 respectively.

+
+
+ +
+
+increment_string($str[, $separator = '_'[, $first = 1]])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $str (string) – Input string
    • +
  • $separator (string) – Separator to append a duplicate number with
    • +
  • $first (int) – Starting number
    • +
+
Returns:

An incremented string

+
Return type:

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"
+
+
+
+ +
+
+alternator($args)
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $args (mixed) – A variable number of arguments
    • +
+
Returns:

Alternated string(s)

+
Return type:

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.

+
+
+ +
+
+repeater($data[, $num = 1])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $data (string) – Input
    • +
  • $num (int) – Number of times to repeat
    • +
+
Returns:

Repeated string

+
Return type:

string

+
+

Generates repeating copies of the data you submit. Example:

+
$string = "\n";
+echo repeater($string, 30);
+
+
+

The above would generate 30 newlines.

+
+

Note

+

This function is DEPRECATED. Use the native str_repeat() +instead.

+
+
+ +
+
+reduce_double_slashes($str)
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $str (string) – Input string
    • +
+
Returns:

A string with normalized slashes

+
Return type:

string

+
+

Converts double slashes in a string to a single slash, except those +found in URL protocol prefixes (e.g. http&#58;//).

+

Example:

+
$string = "http://example.com//index.php";
+echo reduce_double_slashes($string); // results in "http://example.com/index.php"
+
+
+
+ +
+
+strip_slashes($data)
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $data (mixed) – Input string or an array of strings
    • +
+
Returns:

String(s) with stripped slashes

+
Return type:

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().

+
+
+ +
+
+trim_slashes($str)
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $str (string) – Input string
    • +
+
Returns:

Slash-trimmed string

+
Return type:

string

+
+

Removes any leading/trailing slashes from a string. Example:

+
$string = "/this/that/theother/";
+echo trim_slashes($string); // results in this/that/theother
+
+
+
+

Note

+

This function is DEPRECATED. Use the native trim() instead: +| +| trim($str, ‘/’);

+
+
+ +
+
+reduce_multiples($str[, $character = ''[, $trim = FALSE]])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $str (string) – Text to search in
    • +
  • $character (string) – Character to reduce
    • +
  • $trim (bool) – Whether to also trim the specified character
    • +
+
Returns:

Reduced string

+
Return type:

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($string, ", ", TRUE); //results in "Fred, Bill, Joe, Jimmy"
+
+
+
+ +
+
+quotes_to_entities($str)
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $str (string) – Input string
    • +
+
Returns:

String with quotes converted to HTML entities

+
Return type:

string

+
+

Converts single and double quotes in a string to the corresponding HTML +entities. Example:

+
$string = "Joe's \"dinner\"";
+$string = quotes_to_entities($string); //results in "Joe&#39;s &quot;dinner&quot;"
+
+
+
+ +
+
+strip_quotes($str)
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $str (string) – Input string
    • +
+
Returns:

String with quotes stripped

+
Return type:

string

+
+

Removes single and double quotes from a string. Example:

+
$string = "Joe's \"dinner\"";
+$string = strip_quotes($string); //results in "Joes dinner"
+
+
+
+ +
+
+ + +