restrict length of text displayed in results list

I'm trying to show a list of quotations (with their date and author) and would like to show only the start of the quote, is it possible to restrict the length of a text string to 150 characters even though the complete string length may be mush more?

The view can then select the quote to see the 'detail' page that has the complete quote.

Also it would be nice to finish on a blank and not in the middle of a word

I'm using DataAssist 1.3.1, php, MySQL 5 and Dreamwear CS4

to show the first 150 charcters only in a string, you can edit the sql as follows (for example)...

left(fieldname,150) as fieldname150.

to prevent half-words, you can look for the last space in the 150 character string and trim it again.

this can be done with a bit of php...

in the code recordset is the name of your mysql recordset

<?php
$extract = $row_recordset['fieldname150'];
$lastspace = strrpos($extract, ' ');
$extract_word = substr($extract, 0, $lastspace).'...';
echo nl2br($extract_word);
?>

you now have a new string variable called $extract_word with slightly fewer than 150 characters, but ending on a whole word, with an ellipsis tagged onto the end.

Here it is on a site news.php

thats exactly what I'm after.

I've got the bit about displaying the text, here's how it translates...
<?php
$extract = $row_WADATestimonials['fieldname150'];
$lastspace = strrpos($extract, ' ');
$extract_word = substr($extract, 0, $lastspace).'...';
echo nl2br($extract_word);
?>

I've tested it with the actual 'full length' text "tTEXT" and I can get it to display with the '...' at the end.

I don't understand where to put the sql to limit the text to 150 characters...

left(fieldname,150) as fieldname150.

here is the sql that was created by DataAssist...
<?php
$maxRows_WADATestimonials = 10;
$pageNum_WADATestimonials = 0;
if (isset($_GET['pageNum_WADATestimonials'])) {
$pageNum_WADATestimonials = $_GET['pageNum_WADATestimonials'];
}
$startRow_WADATestimonials = $pageNum_WADATestimonials * $maxRows_WADATestimonials;

mysql_select_db($database_connHORIZONr, $connHORIZONr);
$query_WADATestimonials = "SELECT * FROM Testimonials ORDER BY tID DESC";
$query_limit_WADATestimonials = sprintf("%s LIMIT %d, %d", $query_WADATestimonials, $startRow_WADATestimonials, $maxRows_WADATestimonials);
$WADATestimonials = mysql_query($query_limit_WADATestimonials, $connHORIZONr) or die(mysql_error());
$row_WADATestimonials = mysql_fetch_assoc($WADATestimonials);

if (isset($_GET['totalRows_WADATestimonials'])) {
$totalRows_WADATestimonials = $_GET['totalRows_WADATestimonials'];
} else {
$all_WADATestimonials = mysql_query($query_WADATestimonials);
$totalRows_WADATestimonials = mysql_num_rows($all_WADATestimonials);
}
$totalPages_WADATestimonials = ceil($totalRows_WADATestimonials/$maxRows_WADATestimonials)-1;$maxRows_WADATestimonials = 10;
$pageNum_WADATestimonials = 0;
if (isset($_GET['pageNum_WADATestimonials'])) {
$pageNum_WADATestimonials = $_GET['pageNum_WADATestimonials'];
}
$startRow_WADATestimonials = $pageNum_WADATestimonials * $maxRows_WADATestimonials;

mysql_select_db($database_connHORIZONr, $connHORIZONr);
$query_WADATestimonials = "SELECT * FROM Testimonials ORDER BY tID DESC";
$query_limit_WADATestimonials = sprintf("%s LIMIT %d, %d", $query_WADATestimonials, $startRow_WADATestimonials, $maxRows_WADATestimonials);
$WADATestimonials = mysql_query($query_limit_WADATestimonials, $connHORIZONr) or die(mysql_error());
$row_WADATestimonials = mysql_fetch_assoc($WADATestimonials);

if (isset($_GET['totalRows_WADATestimonials'])) {
$totalRows_WADATestimonials = $_GET['totalRows_WADATestimonials'];
} else {
$all_WADATestimonials = mysql_query($query_WADATestimonials);
$totalRows_WADATestimonials = mysql_num_rows($all_WADATestimonials);
}
$totalPages_WADATestimonials = ceil($totalRows_WADATestimonials/$maxRows_WADATestimonials)-1;
?>

what do I need to change to limit the tTEXT field to 150

thanks in advance

Here is an example:

<input type="text" name="textfield" id="textfield" maxlength="150" />

dataassist has made your select statement like this...

SELECT * FROM Testimonials ORDER BY tID DESC

replace the * with the field names you need with a comma between them

for example to add only tID and tTEXT

SELECT tID, tTEXT FROM Testimonials ORDER BY tID DESC

to modify tTEXT to only 150 characters you need

SELECT tID, left(tTEXT,150) as tTEXT150 FROM Testimonials ORDER BY tID DESC

ALTERNATIVELY...

skip the sql modification and do it all with a couple more lines of php, setting the $cutoff to the length you need

<?php
$cutoff = 150;
$extract = $row_WADATestimonials['tTEXT'];
$extract = substr($extract, 0, $cutoff);
$lastspace = strrpos($extract, ' ');
$extract_word = substr($extract, 0, $lastspace).'...';
echo nl2br($extract_word);
?>

Thank you
2 options for the price of 1
either of these options are what I needed