[SOLVED] Return number of characters in a string

[gigantorTRON]

Hey all...

I need a function that will return the number of characters in a string. I've tried several including count_chars, but it's not working for what I need because the value is coming in as '18a' for example and count_chars will then return 3. Is there another function/combination of functions that I can use to count only the 'a' in a string?? I've looked through the manual but couldn't find an appropriate function.

 

Thanks.

[sKunKbad]

strlen

[pocobueno1388]

<?php 

$string = "adfsgfa23aa13aa21a";
$letters = str_split($string);

$count = 0;
foreach ($letters as $letter){
   if ($letter == 'a') $count++;
}

echo "There were <b>$count</b> a's in the string";

?>

[gigantorTRON]

Thanks for the replies..

 

strlen won't work as the value being checked is a number followed by a character... '18a' which comes out to 3.

 

Looks like str_split will work... just need to set the if checking to a range [a-z].