PHP: put first 20 chars of a db field in a string

tedrodgers wrote:
> i have a field in a sql db that holds a users news post (varchar 500 chars
> long) ,

If you're using MySQL, the VARCHAR columns hold a maximum of 255
characters on versions prior to MySQL 5.0. Does your remote server run
MySQL 5? If not, you need to change the column type to TEXT.

i have a box on my frontpage that
> shows the latest 5 news posts, so i need to know how to either put the first
> 20 chars from the db field into a string to
> display in this summary box or just how to limit the output in the box itself.

In your SQL query:

SELECT LEFT(newspost, 20) AS newspost
FROM tableName

That selects the first 20 characters. Sounds like just what you want.

--
David Powers
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
Author, "Foundation PHP 5 for Flash" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/