I need assistance with $CharacterLimit function in sql/php

[Dreamtripper]

Hello, I need assistance inserting $CharacterLimit in to my code so that the called information does not explode my tables. The function needs to be inserted into the code below. And <?=$name?> is what I am wanting to limit to 14 characters.
----------------------
<?php

include("includes/profile.class.php");
$profile=new profile;

include("includes/people.class.php");
$people=new people;

$new_members=$profile->get_new_people();
while($new_set=mysql_fetch_array($new_members))
{
$num_images=$people->get_num_images($new_set["member_id"]);
if($num_images==0)
{
$gender=$people->check_gender($new_set["member_id"]);
if($gender=="Male")
{
$image="<img alt='' src='images/male.gif' width=80 border=0>";
}
else
{
$image="<img alt='' src='images/female.gif' width=80 border=0>";
}
}
else
{
$image_url=$people->get_image($new_set["member_id"]);
$pic_name=str_replace('user_images/', '', $image_url);
$image = "<img src='image_gd/image.php?$pic_name' border='0'>";
}
$people_info=$people->get_info($new_set["member_id"]);
$profile_info=$people->get_profile($new_set["member_id"]);
$name=$people->get_name($new_set["member_id"]);
$CharacterLimit=14; // Define how many characters to be displayed
?>
<!-- person 1 -->
<td width="320" height="100" align="center" valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class=""><p><a href="view_profile.php?member_id=<?=$new_set["member_id"]?>" id="coolNewPersonURLa1"></a> <a href="view_profile.php?member_id=<?=$new_set["member_id"]?>">
<?=$name?>
</a> </p>
<?=$image?>
<p><a href="view_profile.php?member_id=<?=$new_set["member_id"]?>"> </a>
<?php
----------------------------
Any help would be appreciated as I am a beginner and desperately need this function. I checked out another post here (

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=6305)

and I am confused by the term echo, as my script does not use that.

Thanks in advance

 

[vacunita]

Try:

<?
$CharacterLimit=30;
$limited_name=substr($name, 0, $CharacterLimit);
echo $limited_name;
?>

and juts so you know echo is the explicit way for outputting data to the browser.

so this:

<?=$somevriable?>

is exactly the same as
<?
echo $somevariable;
?>

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[Dreamtripper]

Okay I added it, and kind of works, Here is the code after I put in the code you suggested:

<?php

include("includes/profile.class.php");
$profile=new profile;

include("includes/people.class.php");
$people=new people;

$new_members=$profile->get_new_people();
while($new_set=mysql_fetch_array($new_members))
{
$num_images=$people->get_num_images($new_set["member_id"]);
if($num_images==0)
{
$gender=$people->check_gender($new_set["member_id"]);
if($gender=="Male")
{
$image="<img alt='' src='images/male.gif' width=80 border=0>";
}
else
{
$image="<img alt='' src='images/female.gif' width=80 border=0>";
}
}
{
$image_url=$people->get_image($new_set["member_id"]);
$pic_name=str_replace('user_images/', '', $image_url);
$image = "<img src='image_gd/image.php?$pic_name' border='0'>";
}
$people_info=$people->get_info($new_set["member_id"]);
$profile_info=$people->get_profile($new_set["member_id"]);
$name=$people->get_name($new_set["member_id"]);

$CharacterLimit=14;
$limited_name=substr($name, 0, $CharacterLimit);
echo $limited_name;

?>
<!-- person 1 -->
<td width="320" height="100" align="center" valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class=""><p><a href="view_profile.php?member_id=<?=$new_set["member_id"]?>" id="coolNewPersonURLa1"></a> <a href="view_profile.php?member_id=<?=$new_set["member_id"]?>">
<? echo $name;?>
</a> </p>
<?=$image?>
<p><a href="view_profile.php?member_id=<?=$new_set["member_id"]?>"> </a>
<?php

---------------------------
And if you will look at

http://beta.rapidfriends.com

you will see the output that it gives me in the newest members column.

 

[Dreamtripper]

Ah I got it! Just need to change this <? echo $name;?> to <?=$limited_name?> Works great. Now is there away to add ... at the end for names that are longer than 14 characters?

And thanks vacunita for your fast assistance.

 

[Vragabond]

Of course, just add some logic to it:

if (strlen ($name) >= $CharacterLimit)
{
  $name = substr ($name, 0, $CharacterLimit) . '...';
}
echo $name;

If $name is longer than the number of characters specified in $CharacterLimit, it will cut it at that mark and add three dots. If not, it will simply output the regular $name.