String operators #

This page is for designers who shape text in templates. These operators come from eZTemplateStringOperator, eZTemplateTextOperator and eZTemplateNl2BrOperator (lib/eztemplate/classes/). Since 6.0.13, about sixty PHP string functions are operators as well (PHP string functions as operators).

Contents #

1. Case
2. Length and trimming
3. Joining and layout
4. Counting
5. Escaping comes last

Case #

Prefer CSS text-transform for purely visual case: screen readers and copy-paste keep the original text.

Length and trimming #

{$node.name|shorten( 60 )}                 {* at most 60 characters, '...' added when cut *}
{$text|shorten( 120, '…' )}                {* own ending *}
{$text|trim}                               {* spaces removed at both ends *}
{$text|simplify}                           {* runs of spaces reduced to one *}
{$code|pad( 6, '0' )}                      {* str_pad: '42' becomes '420000' *}
{$text|wrap( 72 )}                         {* wordwrap at 72 characters *}

shorten defaults: length 80, sequence ..., cut on the right (from the operator's code). For rich text, shorten the plain text: {$node.data_map.intro.content.output.output_text|strip_tags|shorten( 160 )|wash}.

Joining and layout #

{concat( $first, ' ', $last )}
{$text|nl2br}            {* line breaks to <br>: wash first *}
{$text|break}            {* the same as nl2br in the string operator *}
{'x'|indent( 4 )}        {* indentation *}

chr and ord convert between characters and codes.

Counting #

{$text|count_words}
{$text|count_chars}       {* multibyte aware: mb_strlen when available *}

Escaping comes last #

Shape first, then wash: {$text|shorten( 100 )|wash}. For nl2br, wash before it so the <br> survives: {$text|wash|nl2br} (Wash and escaping).

Related pages #

• PHP string functions as operators
• Wash and escaping
• Operator reference
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.