ucfirst() function for multibyte character encodings

Question

I've asked about strtolower function. But when using foreign characters it doesn't convert them into uppercase, so I must use:

 mb_strtolower($a,"utf8");

But what can I do, if I want to use ucfirst() function? I haven't found any similar function, where I can set encoding type.

Tiddlywinks

Maybe this: if-not-true-then-false.com/2010/… – Imponderabilia

P.S. There is a composer package with properly implemented mbUcFirst() github.com/cofirazak/phpMissingFunctions – Mechanic

Answer 1

There is no mb_ucfirst function, as you've already noticed. You can fake a mb_ucfirst with two mb_substr:

function mb_ucfirst($string, $encoding)
{
    $firstChar = mb_substr($string, 0, 1, $encoding);
    $then = mb_substr($string, 1, null, $encoding);
    return mb_strtoupper($firstChar, $encoding) . $then;
}

Diesel

how does this compares with the other users-entered customized functions? for example, php.net/manual/en/function.ucfirst.php#108856 PS I know I can TIAS but since lots of people have this problem someone may have the answer already – Footpace

you can actually pass NULL instead of $strlen-1 and then you don't need the first line. – Sangsanger

Really? That sounds a little weird. null as a third parameter to mb_substr means length minus one? – Diesel

@zneak: ivanhoe is right. $strlen - 1 in this case means "up to the end of the string", which is what null does here. – Cleora

This didn't work for me. As per php.net/manual/de/function.mb-substr.php#77515: "Passing null as length will not make mb_substr use it's default, instead it will interpret it as 0." – Jawbreaker

@exizt that's because you're using an old PHP version. php.net/manual/en/… – Adopted

@Diesel You could even make the $encoding parameter optional and read it from mb_internal_encoding() when it is not set so the function behavior would be consistent with other mb_ functions – Tobi

$encoding should default to null and run mb_internal_encoding() if it is null. – Dulcy

You can save an mbstring call by passing null instead of $strlen - 1 in mb_substr(); this way, you don't need the length. edit oops, just saw that others mentioned this before I did. Actually, as I can see on your profile page that you're no longer contributing to StackOverflow, I took the liberty to update your answer to reflect this. – Clemente

Answer 2

This is more concise solution, although it is rather similar to ucwords function:

$final_string = mb_convert_case($your_string, MB_CASE_TITLE, 'UTF-8');

If you need to capitalize string consist of one word, it is the best solution.

Unreeve

Almost the best answer but Koralek M. is more usefull - it is insensitive for change of encoding of your www service – Cran

@Cran This one may also be insensitive for change of encoding if you omit 'UTF-8' parameter. As for every mb_* functions – Monochromatism

Works perfectly. For all intents and purposes this is the built-in mb_ucfirst equivalent in PHP. – Serilda

This does not perfectly as it changes first letters in all words to uppercase. Ucfirst is supposed to change only the first word. – Doreendorelia

this will touch every word in the string, that's NOT what ucfirst() does. -1 – Dulcy

Answer 3

function mb_ucfirst($string)
{
    return mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($string, 0, 1)).mb_substr($string, 1);
}

Tempura

You should not lowercase the rest of the string. – Macrobiotics

It is working ok. If it's not, check if mb_* functions do work in your environment at all. – Reneerenegade

This function requires PHP/5.4.8 and greater. Also, you probably need to set a good locale and ensure that mb_internal_encoding() returns a proper value. – Orthogenesis

this does not allow you to specify encoding – Dulcy

.. and worse, it will lowercase everything else in the string, that's not what ucfirst() does... – Dulcy

not lowercasing anymore - a good soul went ahead and fixed it... not sure if that's legit, though? Sort of made correct a wrong answer. – Illusive

@Illusive it's better now, but still not perfect, it does not allow you to specify encoding, unlike every other mb_ function ^^ – Dulcy

Answer 4

as of 2019-11-18, it seems nobody on stackoverflow got this right, here's how mb_ucfirst() should be implemented in userland:

For PHP>=8.0.0:

function mb_ucfirst(string $str, ?string $encoding = null): string
{
    return mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($str, 0, 1, $encoding), $encoding) . mb_substr($str, 1, null, $encoding);
}

For PHP >= 7.0.0:

function mb_ucfirst(string $str, string $encoding = null): string
{
    if ($encoding === null) {
        $encoding = mb_internal_encoding();
    }
    return mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($str, 0, 1, $encoding), $encoding) . mb_substr($str, 1, null, $encoding);
}

For PHP>=5.1.0:

function mb_ucfirst($str, $encoding = null)
{
    if (!is_string($str)) {
        throw new InvalidArgumentException("Argument 1 must be string, " . gettype($str) . " given");
    }
    if ($encoding === null) {
        $encoding = mb_internal_encoding();
    } elseif (!is_string($encoding)) {
        throw new InvalidArgumentException("Argument 2 must be string|null, " . gettype($encoding) . " given");
    }
    return mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($str, 0, 1, $encoding), $encoding) . mb_substr($str, 1, null, $encoding);
}

Dulcy

ps: if you're curious, i added a comment in every other answer, explaining what i think they got wrong. – Dulcy

P.S. There is a composer package with properly implemented mbUcFirst() github.com/cofirazak/phpMissingFunctions – Mechanic

@Dulcy should mb_ucfirst(string $str, ?string $encoding = null): string declaration be better? It explicitly states that $encoding can be null, which aligns with the default value (and with existing PHP functions documentation) – Mandrill

@Mandrill yeah that'd be better. Don't think it makes a difference though. Btw prior to PHP8.0.0, calling mb_internal_encoding was actually required, as the encoding argument of mb_substr functions wasn't nullable, but was omittable. Luckily that's fixed in >=8.0.0 though – Dulcy

Answer 5

if (!function_exists('mb_ucfirst'))
{
    function mb_ucfirst($value)
    {
        return mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($value, 0, 1)) . mb_substr($value, 1);
    }
}

Dilator

It is working ok. If it's not, check if mb_* functions do work in your environment at all. – Reneerenegade

This function requires PHP/5.4.8 and greater. Also, you probably need to set a good locale and ensure that mb_internal_encoding() returns a proper value. – Orthogenesis

this does not allow you to specify encoding =/ – Dulcy

Answer 6

I´m using cp1250 on webpage, and for Ú mb_ucfirst doesn´t work, so little upgrade:

  function mb_ucfirst($string)
{
    $main_encoding = "cp1250"; 
    $inner_encoding = "utf-8";
    $string = iconv($main_encoding, $inner_encoding , $string );
    $strlen = mb_strlen($string);
    $firstChar = mb_substr($string, 0, 1, $inner_encoding);
    $then = mb_substr($string, 1, $strlen - 1, $inner_encoding);
    return $string = iconv($inner_encoding, $main_encoding , mb_strtoupper($firstChar, $inner_encoding) . $then );
}

Lasseter

For more general use, $main_encoding should be either set as an optional parameter or by mb_internal_encoding(). Otherwise good. – Cleora

Answer 7

/*This worked correctly for me*/
function mb_ucfirst($string, $encoding='UTF-8')
{
    $firstChar = mb_substr($string, 0, 1, $encoding);
    $then = mb_substr($string, 1, mb_strlen($string, $encoding)-1, $encoding);
    return mb_strtoupper($firstChar, $encoding) . $then;
}

Khanate

This function requires PHP/5.4.8 and greater. Also, you probably need to set a good locale and ensure that mb_internal_encoding() returns a proper value. – Orthogenesis

This advice was provided earlier. This code-only answer is redundant. – Samoyed

default should be mb_internal_encoding() , not UTF-8 =/ – Dulcy

there's no need to do mb_strlen($string, $encoding)-1 - if you want the rest of the string, no matter how big it is, just specify the length as null – Dulcy

Answer 8

$string = trim(preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', $string));
$string_ar = explode(' ', mb_strtolower($string,'utf-8'));

foreach($string_ar as $key => $value {
  $string_str .= mb_convert_case(mb_substr(trim($value), 0, 1), MB_CASE_TITLE, 'utf-8')
    . mb_substr(trim($value),1)
    . ' ';
}

$string = trim($string_str);

Plovdiv

please elaborate more on your answer – Injection

this will uppercase every first word after spaces, and then it will trim the result, thats NOT what ucfirst() does. -1 – Dulcy