Definition :

  • Pads a string to a new length
  • Pads a string with arbitrary characters
  • Pad a string to a certain length with another string

Syntax :

  • str_pad(string,length,pad_string,pad_type)
  • string str_pad  ( string $input  , int $pad_length  [, string $pad_string  [, int $pad_type  ]] )

Notes :

  • pad_type possible values :- STR_PAD_RIGHT, STR_PAD_LEFT or STR_PAD_BOTH
  • Default pad_type will be STR_PAD_RIGHT
  • Returns the padded string or NULL on error.

Compatible :

PHP 4 >= 4.0.1, PHP 5

Examples :

$var = “PHPCOMMANDS”;
echo str_pad($var, 15);  // output   “PHPCOMMANDS    “
echo str_pad($var, 15, “*”, STR_PAD_LEFT);  // output   “****PHPCOMMANDS”
echo str_pad($var, 15, “*”, STR_PAD_RIGHT);  // output  “PHPCOMMANDS****”
echo str_pad($var, 15, “*”);  // output  “PHPCOMMANDS****”
echo str_pad($var, 15, “*”, STR_PAD_BOTH);  // output  “**PHPCOMMANDS**”