String¶

class String¶

The String class includes convenience methods for creating and manipulating strings and is normally accessed statically. Example: String::uuid().

If you need TextHelper functionalities outside of a View, use the String class:

<?php
class UsersController extends AppController {

    public $components = array('Auth');

    public function afterLogin() {
        App::uses('String', 'Utility');
        $message = $this->User->find('new_message');
        if (!empty($message)) {
            // notify user of new message
            $this->Session->setFlash(__('You have a new message: %s', String::truncate($message['Message']['body'], 255, array('html' => true))));
        }
    }
}

Changed in version 2.1: Several methods from TextHelper have been moved to String class.

static String::uuid¶

The uuid method is used to generate unique identifiers as per RFC 4122. The uuid is a 128bit string in the format of 485fc381-e790-47a3-9794-1337c0a8fe68.

<?php
String::uuid(); // 485fc381-e790-47a3-9794-1337c0a8fe68

static String::tokenize($data, $separator = ', ', $leftBound = '(', $rightBound = ')')¶

Tokenizes a string using $separator, ignoring any instance of $separator that appears between $leftBound and $rightBound.

This method can be useful when splitting up data in that has regular formatting such as tag lists:

<?php
$data = "cakephp 'great framework' php";
$result = String::tokenize($data, ' ', "'", "'");
// result contains
array('cakephp', "'great framework'", 'php');

static String::insert($string, $data, $options = array())¶

The insert method is used to create string templates and to allow for key/value replacements:

<?php
String::insert('My name is :name and I am :age years old.', array('name' => 'Bob', 'age' => '65'));
// generates: "My name is Bob and I am 65 years old."

static String::cleanInsert($string, $options = array())¶

Cleans up a String::insert formatted string with given $options depending on the ‘clean’ key in $options. The default method used is text but html is also available. The goal of this function is to replace all whitespace and unneeded markup around placeholders that did not get replaced by Set::insert.

You can use the following options in the options array:

<?php
$options = array(
    'clean' => array(
        'method' => 'text', // or html
    ),
    'before' => '',
    'after' => ''
);

static String::wrap($text, $options = array())¶

Wraps a block of text to a set width, and indent blocks as well. Can intelligently wrap text so words are not sliced across lines:

<?php
$text = 'This is the song that never ends.';
$result = String::wrap($text, 22);

// returns
This is the song
that never ends.

You can provide an array of options that control how wrapping is done. The supported options are:

width The width to wrap to. Defaults to 72.
wordWrap Whether or not to wrap whole words. Defaults to true.
indent The character to indent lines with. Defaults to ‘’.
indentAt The line number to start indenting text. Defaults to 0.

String::highlight(string $haystack, string $needle, array $options = array())¶

Parameters:	$haystack (string) – The string to search. $needle (string) – The string to find. $options (array) – An array of options, see below.

Highlights $needle in $haystack using the $options['format'] string specified or a default string.

Options:

‘format’ - string The piece of html with that the phrase will be highlighted
‘html’ - bool If true, will ignore any HTML tags, ensuring that only the correct text is highlighted

Example:

<?php
// called as TextHelper
echo $this->Text->highlight($lastSentence, 'using', array('format' => '<span class="highlight">\1</span>'));

// called as String
App::uses('String', 'Utility');
echo String::highlight($lastSentence, 'using', array('format' => '<span class="highlight">\1</span>'));

Output:

Highlights $needle in $haystack <span class="highlight">using</span>
the $options['format'] string specified  or a default string.

String::stripLinks($text)¶: Strips the supplied $text of any HTML links.

String::truncate(string $text, int $length=100, array $options)¶

Parameters:	$text (string) – The text to truncate. $length (int) – The length to trim to. $options (array) – An array of options to use.

Cuts a string to the $length and adds a suffix with 'ending' if the text is longer than $length. If 'exact' is passed as false, the truncation will occur after the next word ending. If 'html' is passed as true, html tags will be respected and will not be cut off.

$options is used to pass all extra parameters, and has the following possible keys by default, all of which are optional:

array(
    'ending' => '...',
    'exact' => true,
    'html' => false
)

Example:

<?php
// called as TextHelper
echo $this->Text->truncate(
    'The killer crept forward and tripped on the rug.',
    22,
    array(
        'ending' => '...',
        'exact' => false
    )
);

// called as String
App::uses('String', 'Utility');
echo String::truncate(
    'The killer crept forward and tripped on the rug.',
    22,
    array(
        'ending' => '...',
        'exact' => false
    )
);

Output:

The killer crept...

String::excerpt(string $haystack, string $needle, integer $radius=100, string $ending="...")¶

Parameters:	$haystack (string) – The string to search. $needle (string) – The string to excerpt around. $radius (int) – The number of characters on either side of $needle you want to include. $ending (string) – Text to append/prepend to the beginning or end of the result.

Extracts an excerpt from $haystack surrounding the $needle with a number of characters on each side determined by $radius, and prefix/suffix with $ending. This method is especially handy for search results. The query string or keywords can be shown within the resulting document.:

<?php
// called as TextHelper
echo $this->Text->excerpt($lastParagraph, 'method', 50, '...');

// called as String
App::uses('String', 'Utility');
echo String::excerpt($lastParagraph, 'method', 50, '...');

Output:

... by $radius, and prefix/suffix with $ending. This method is
especially handy for search results. The query...

String::toList(array $list, $and='and')¶

Parameters:	$list (array) – Array of elements to combine into a list sentence. $and (string) – The word used for the last join.

Creates a comma-separated list where the last two items are joined with ‘and’.:

<?php
// called as TextHelper
echo $this->Text->toList($colors);

// called as String
App::uses('String', 'Utility');
echo String::toList($colors);

Output:

red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet

String¶

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