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

* Available Functions


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.

   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 this function is NOT suitable for password generation or
     other security-sensitive purposes. Please use random_bytes()
     instead.

   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://).

   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"
