If statement to compare character length of variables in PHP

Question

I have two variables: $value1 and $value2.

I want to compare the character length of the variables. If $value1 is greater in character length than $value2, then do something.

How can I write this if-statement in good practice?

Check out [`strlen()`](http://php.net/manual/en/function.strlen.php) — Funk Forty Niner, Oct 23 '14 at 15:22

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 23 '14 at 15:24

2

You can use strlen() for this:

if (strlen($value1) > strlen($value2)) {
    // do things
} else {
    // do other things
}

answered Oct 23 '14 at 15:24

fedorqui

[`Indeed`](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26531526/if-statement-to-compare-character-length-of-variables-in-php#comment41689387_26531526), said as a comment. Doing a conditional's easy. – Funk Forty Niner Oct 23 '14 at 15:24
Uhms, I didn't see it @Fred-ii- . Feel free to post as an answer and I will remove the answer. – fedorqui Oct 23 '14 at 15:25
2

@fedorqui Why should you remove it? This is a complete answer compared to the comment which was only a comment hinting at the solution. – Henrik Petterson Oct 23 '14 at 15:26
1

I didn't want to post an answer for it. I feel that answers shouldn't be posted for questions like this, unless OP has existing problems with code he/she tried. I'm sure that if I had done that, some of my peers would have most likely downvoted me. – Funk Forty Niner Oct 23 '14 at 15:26
1

@HenrikPetterson It's a simple conditional statement, something that is basic. Googling it would have given you many many options for solutions. I don't think this question is a good one, since you haven't provided any effort as far as code goes. There was even a solution/example in that link I gave you. – Funk Forty Niner Oct 23 '14 at 15:29
1

Well, [so] is full of obvious questions and answers. If it happens to have been already asked, then let's mark it as duplicate; otherwise, I do not see the harm of answering it. It adds knowledge to the site. – fedorqui Oct 23 '14 at 15:45

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 23 '14 at 15:28

strlen does not work for multi byte strings. utf8 is pretty much the most used encoding in the WWW.

Better use mb_strlen instead:

mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
$value1 = 'ö';
$value2 = 'o';
if (mb_strlen($value1) > mb_strlen($value2)) {
    //do something
}

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 23 '14 at 15:28

1

To avoid problems with string enconding I would suggest you to have a look at mb_strlen function (you will need mb_string extension)

if (mb_strlen($value1) > mb_strlen($value2))
{
   // do stuff
}

answered Oct 23 '14 at 15:28

PauloASilva

Someone posted this just minutes before you, but thank you regardless, upvote! – Henrik Petterson Oct 23 '14 at 21:10

3 Answers3