An example of PHP code that truncates text at character breakpoints

//The so-called word break is where a word can be broken when changing lines. This function will truncate the string at hyphenation points.
// Please acknowledge use of this code by including this header.
function myTruncate($string, $limit, $break=".", $pad="...") {
// return with no change if string is shorter than $limit
if(strlen($string) <= $limit)
return $string;
// is $break present between $limit and the end of the string?
if(false !== ($ breakpoint = strpos($string, $break, $limit))) {
if($breakpoint < strlen($string) - 1) {
$string = substr($string, 0, $breakpoint) . $pad;
}
}
return $string;
}
/***** Example ****/
$short_string=myTruncate($long_string, 100, ' ');
?>