PHP strncmp() Function
Topic: PHP String ReferencePrev|Next
Description
The strncmp() function compares two strings up to a specified length.
This function is case-sensitive. For case-insensitive searches, use the strncasecmp() function.
The following table summarizes the technical details of this function.
| Return Value: | Returns a negative value (< 0) if string1 is less than string2; a positive value (> 0) if string1 is greater than string2, and 0 if both strings are equal. |
|---|---|
| Version: | PHP 4+ |
Syntax
The basic syntax of the strncmp() function is given with:
The following example shows the strncmp() function in action.
Example
Run this code »<?php
// Sample strings
$str1 = "Hello John!";
$str2 = "Hello Peter!";
// Comparing the first five characters
echo strncmp($str1, $str2, 5);
?>Note: The strncmp() function is similar to strcmp(), except that with strncmp() you can specify the number of characters from each string to be used in the comparison.
Parameters
The strncmp() function accepts the following parameters.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| string1 | Required. Specifies the first string to compare. |
| string2 | Required. Specifies the second string to compare. |
| length | Required. Specifies the maximum number of characters to use in the comparison. |
More Examples
Here're some more examples showing how strncmp() function actually works:
The following example shows the comparison of the first seven characters of the two strings.
Example
Run this code »<?php
// Sample strings
$str1 = "Hello John!";
$str2 = "Hello Peter!";
// Comparing the first seven characters
echo strncmp($str1, $str2, 7);
?>The following example demonstrates the case-sensitive behavior of this function.
Example
Run this code »<?php
// Sample strings
$str1 = "Hello World!";
$str2 = "HELLO World!";
// Performing string comparison
if(strncmp($str1, $str2, 5) !== 0) {
echo "The portions of the two strings are not equal.";
}
?>
