strncasecmp() function in PHP
The strncasecmp() is a case-insensitive, built-in function of PHP. It compares two strings for the first n characters. This function is similar to the strcasecmp() function with a difference. In strncasecmp(), we can specify the number of characters from both the strings for comparison, whereas, strcasecmp() does not have the length parameter. The strncasecmp() is a binary-safe function.
Note: The strncasecmp() is a case-insensitive and binary-safe function.
Syntax
The strncasecmp() function has the following syntax:
All the three parameters are mandatory to pass in this function. It returns an integer value after comparison.
Parameter
$string1 (required): It is the first string which is used in the comparison. It’s a mandatory parameter.
$string2 (required): It is the second mandatory string which is used in the comparison.
$length: It is the last and mandatory parameter of this function which specifies the length of the string to be used in the comparison.
Return Values
| Return Values | Description |
|---|---|
| Return < 0 | If the string1 is less than string2, i.e., $string < $string2. |
| Return 0 | If both strings are equal. |
| Return > 0 | If the string1 is greater than string2, i.e., $string > $string2. |
Examples
Below some examples are given from which you can learn the practical implementation of this function in the program.
Input: $string1 = "Hello World", $string2 = "HELLO ", $len = 5;//case-insensitive Output: 0 Input: $string1 = "Hello World ", $string2 = "Hello ", $len = 11; Output: 6 Input: $string1 = "Hello PHP! ", $string2 = "PHP", $len = 9 Output: -8 Input: $string1 = "PHP! ", $string2 = "Hello PHP", $len = 9 Output: 8 Input: $string1 = "Hello ", $string2 = "Hello PHP", $len = 9 Output: -4
Following some detailed examples are given below –
Example 1
It is the simple example of strncasecmp() which shows that it is case-insensitive function.
Output:
0
Example 2
Output:
In this example, the function has returned 13, because string1 is greater than string2.
13
Example 3
Output:
In this example, the function has returned -13, because string1 is smaller than string2.
-13
Example 4
Output:
15
Example 5
Output:
In the above example, this function has returned 18 because string2 is greater than string1. ASCII value of e (101) is greater than W (87).
18
Example 6
Output:
In this example, the function has returned -4 because string1 is smaller than string2. In string2, there is r in place of n at the end of the afternoon. ASCII value of r (114) is greater than n (110), which is less.
-4
Example 7
If we do not provide the length in the function for comparison, then it would show an error.
Output:
We can see in the output that it generate a warning which is, the function expects three parameters where only two parameters are given in the program.
