PHP - Slicing Strings

Posted 2024-05-17 07:31:23

Slicing

You can return a range of characters by using the substr() function.

Specify the start index and the number of characters you want to return.

Start the slice at index 6 and end the slice 5 positions later:

$x = "Hello World!";
echo substr($x, 6, 5);

Note The first character has index 0.

By leaving out the length parameter, the range will go to the end:

Start the slice at index 6 and go all the way to the end:

$x = "Hello World!";
echo substr($x, 6);

Use negative indexes to start the slice from the end of the string:

Get the 3 characters, starting from the "o" in world (index -5):

$x = "Hello World!";
echo substr($x, -5, 3);

Note The last character has index -1.

Use negative length to specify how many characters to omit, starting from the end of the string:

From the string "Hi, how are you?", get the characters starting from index 5, and continue until you reach the 3. character from the end (index -3).

Should end up with "ow are y":

$x = "Hi, how are you?";
echo substr($x, 5, -3);

For a complete reference of all string functions, go to our complete PHP String Reference.