How to count characters in a Variable

[kpetsche20]

I want to limit the viewable area on the user end, when displaying articles, so my page doesn't elongate too much. How do I count characters in a variable.

[LooieENG]

<?php

 

echo strlen($var);

 

?>

[kpetsche20]

How do i only display a certain number of characters in a variable?

[br0ken]

$startPos  = 0;
$endPos    = 8;
$var       = "This is just a simple test to limit variable size.";

echo substr($var, $startPos, $endPos);