RSS string parse

[gametopius]

I am attempting to modify the rss.php file in my CMS. I would like it to display the first 250 characters of the stories description. But if the 250 is not empty I would like the character limit to increase until it finds the next open space. Here is a snipet of my code. Any help will be greatly appreciated and thank you for your time.

 

if ($row->fulltext == "")
     $itemDesc = $row->introtext != "" ? $row->introtext : "No description";
 else
$itemDesc = $row->introtext . $row->fulltext;	
$length = 250
$desc_length_max = $length;
$itemDesc = strip_tags($itemDesc, '<p> <br /> <br/> <br> <u> <i> <b> <img>');
$actualDescLength = strlen($itemDesc);
parse_str (string $itemDesc [, array &$arr])
$itemDesc = substr($itemDesc, 0, $desc_length_max);
$itemDesc = preg_replace("/\r\n|\n|\r/", "<br/>", $itemDesc);

if ($arr[$desc_lenght_max] != " ") ($length + 1) ($itemDesc .= " [...]");

Else
    $length = 250;
				    

 

[RussellReal]

arr[$desc_lenght_max

 

you spelled length wrong lol