PHP 8 reference · Multibyte String Functions

PHP mb_str_pad() Function

Pad a multibyte string to a given length in characters, on the left, right or both sides. Added in PHP 8.3.

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Syntax

mb_str_pad(string $string, int $length, string $pad_string = " ", int $pad_type = STR_PAD_RIGHT, ?string $encoding = null): string

Parameter	Description
`string`	The input string.
`length`	The final length in characters.
`pad_string` optional	What to pad with. Default: `" "`
`pad_type` optional	`STR_PAD_RIGHT`, `STR_PAD_LEFT` or `STR_PAD_BOTH`. Default: `STR_PAD_RIGHT`
`encoding` optional	The character encoding; defaults to `mb_internal_encoding()` (UTF-8).

The padded string.

Line up names with accentsTry it yourself

<?php
foreach (["Zoë", "Ana", "Jürgen"] as $name) {
    echo "[" . mb_str_pad($name, 8) . "]", "\n";
}

Output

[Zoë     ]
[Ana     ]
[Jürgen  ]

Compared with str_pad()Try it yourself

<?php
echo "[" . str_pad("Zoë", 6) . "]", "\n";    // bytes: one space short
echo "[" . mb_str_pad("Zoë", 6) . "]", "\n"; // characters

Output

[Zoë  ]
[Zoë   ]

Version	Change
PHP 8.3	Added

str_pad() · Pad a string to a given length with spaces or another string, on the right, left or both sides.
mb_strlen() · Return the number of characters in a string, counting é or 日 as one character. The UTF-8-safe version of strlen().
PHP Strings · tutorial