PHP Functions Essential Reference

strcspn

int strcspn(string string, string mask) 

Returns the number of characters present in string before any part of mask is found.

Returns:

String

Description:

strcspn() returns the number of characters that occur between the start of string and the first occurrence of any character listed in mask .

strcspn() provides a simple way to parse strings and validate data. It is not commonly used in PHP—many other functions exist in the language that eclipse it in power and convenience.

Version:

PHP 3.0.3+, PHP 4+

See also:

To find the length of an initial substring containing only certain characters:

strspn() 

Other functions that count the number or occurrence of characters or strings within a string:

 count_chars() strlen() substr_count()  ...