Text Helper
***********

The Text Helper file contains functions that assist in working with
text.

* Loading this Helper

* Available Functions


Loading this Helper
===================

This helper is loaded using the following code:

   $this->load->helper('text');


Available Functions
===================

The following functions are available:

word_limiter($str[, $limit = 100[, $end_char = '…']])

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

      * **$limit** ("int") – Limit

      * **$end_char** ("string") – End character (usually an ellipsis)

   Returns:
      Word-limited string

   Return type:
      "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.

character_limiter($str[, $n = 500[, $end_char = '…']])

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

      * **$n** ("int") – Number of characters

      * **$end_char** ("string") – End character (usually an ellipsis)

   Returns:
      Character-limited string

   Return type:
      "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 "ellipsize()" function below.

ascii_to_entities($str)

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

   Returns:
      A string with ASCII values converted to entities

   Return type:
      "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);

convert_accented_characters($str)

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

   Returns:
      A string with accented characters converted

   Return type:
      "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/foreign_chars.php* to define the to and from
     array for transliteration.

word_censor($str, $censored[, $replacement = ''])

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

      * **$censored** ("array") – List of bad words to censor

      * **$replacement** ("string") – What to replace bad words with

   Returns:
      Censored string

   Return type:
      "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!');

highlight_code($str)

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

   Returns:
      String with code highlighted via HTML

   Return type:
      "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.

highlight_phrase($str, $phrase[, $tag_open = ''[, $tag_close = '']])

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

      * **$phrase** ("string") – Phrase to highlight

      * **$tag_open** ("string") – Opening tag used for the highlight

      * **$tag_close** ("string") – Closing tag for the highlight

   Returns:
      String with a phrase highlighted via HTML

   Return type:
      "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;
        };

word_wrap($str[, $charlim = 76])

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

      * **$charlim** ("int") – Character limit

   Returns:
      Word-wrapped string

   Return type:
      "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.

ellipsize($str, $max_length[, $position = 1[, $ellipsis = '…']])

   Parameters:
      * **$str** ("string") – Input string

      * **$max_length** ("int") – String length limit

      * **$position** ("mixed") – Position to split at (int or float)

      * **$ellipsis** ("string") – What to use as the ellipsis
        character

   Returns:
      Ellipsized string

   Return type:
      "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&hellip;ak_my_design.jpg
