PHP substr() Function

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# PHP substr() Function

PHP String Reference

## Example

Return "world" from the string:

<?php
echo substr("Hello world",6);
?>
Run example »

## Definition and Usage

The substr() function returns a part of a string.

Note: If the start parameter is a negative number and length is less than or equal to start, length becomes 0.

## Syntax

substr(string,start,length)

Parameter | Description
--- | ---
string | Required. Specifies the string to return a part of

start

Required. Specifies where to start in the string

- A positive number - Start at a specified position in the string
- A negative number - Start at a specified position from the end of the string
- 0 - Start at the first character in string

length

Optional. Specifies the length of the returned string. Default is to the end of the string.

- A positive number - The length to be returned from the start parameter
- Negative number - The length to be returned from the end of the string

## Technical Details

Return Value: | Returns the extracted part of a string, or FALSE on failure, or an empty string
PHP Version: | 4+
Changelog: | In PHP Version 5.2.2 to 5.2.6, if the start parameter indicates the position of a negative truncation or beyond, FALSE is returned. Other versions get the string from start

## More Examples

## Example 1

Using the start parameter with different positive and negative numbers:

<?php
echo substr("Hello world",10)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",1)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",3)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",7)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",-1)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",-10)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",-8)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",-4)."<br>";
?>
Run example »

## Example 2

Using the start and length parameters with different positive and negative numbers:

<?php
echo substr("Hello world",0,10)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",1,8)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",0,5)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",6,6)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",0,-1)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",-10,-2)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",0,-6)."<br>";
echo substr("Hello world",-2-3)."<br>";
?>
Run example »

PHP String Reference

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