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[Validation & Sanitization](/categories/validation) 4. / 5. itools/smartstring ActiveLibrary[Validation & Sanitization](/categories/validation) itools/smartstring ================== Enhanced PHP strings with automatic HTML encoding and chainable transformation methods v2.7.0(1mo ago)09.6k↑186.7%[1 PRs](https://github.com/interactivetools-com/SmartString/pulls)2MITPHPPHP ^8.1CI passing Since Aug 28Pushed 3w agoCompare [ Source](https://github.com/interactivetools-com/SmartString)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/itools/smartstring)[ Docs](https://github.com/interactivetools-com/SmartString)[ RSS](/packages/itools-smartstring/feed)WikiDiscussions main Synced 2w ago READMEChangelogDependencies (8)Versions (32)Used By (2) SmartString: Secure and Simple String Handling for PHP ====================================================== [](#smartstring-secure-and-simple-string-handling-for-php) SmartString lets you write template code that's shorter, easier to read, and XSS-safe by default. The whole library is built around a single idea: the easiest way to output data should also be the safest way. Instead of writing code like this: ``` echo "" . htmlspecialchars($article['title'], ENT_QUOTES|ENT_SUBSTITUTE|ENT_HTML5, 'UTF-8') . ""; $summary = strip_tags($article['content']); // remove tags $summary = html_entity_decode($summary, ENT_QUOTES|ENT_SUBSTITUTE|ENT_HTML5, 'UTF-8'); // decode entities $summary = substr($summary, 0, 120); // limit to 120 characters echo "Summary: " . htmlspecialchars($summary, ENT_QUOTES|ENT_SUBSTITUTE|ENT_HTML5, 'UTF-8') . "..."; ``` You can write code like this: ``` echo "$article->title"; echo "Summary: {$article->content->textOnly()->maxChars(120, '...')}\n"; ``` SmartString encodes HTML output automatically and includes utility functions for common template tasks. A few basics cover most pages, and the rest is there when you need it. Documentation ------------- [](#documentation) Full guides and references ([browse on GitHub](https://github.com/interactivetools-com/SmartString)): - **The Basics** (read in order) - [Getting Started](docs/getting-started.md) - install, your first auto-encoded value, and the mental model - [Encoding and HTML](docs/encoding-and-html.md) - how auto-encoding works and the methods that let real markup through - [Text and Formatting](docs/text-and-formatting.md) - truncating, regex, dates, numbers, math, and custom functions with `map()` - [Conditionals and Error Checking](docs/conditionals-and-error-checking.md) - fallbacks, checks, and the guards that stop the page - **Everyday Use** - [Common Patterns](docs/common-patterns.md) - copy-paste recipes for everyday template tasks - **Lookup** - [Method Reference](docs/method-reference.md) - every method, grouped by what it returns - [Troubleshooting](docs/troubleshooting.md) - common error messages and gotchas, with fixes - [Performance](docs/performance.md) - how our automatic encoding is 3x faster than calling `htmlspecialchars()` yourself - [AI Reference](docs/ai-reference.md) - the complete API in one dense file, written for AI coding assistants You're Never Locked In ---------------------- [](#youre-never-locked-in) SmartString is built for outputting HTML. For everything else (calculations, business logic, or anywhere you just prefer plain PHP), call `value()` and you have the original value back, in its original type: ``` // SmartString: ->value() returns the original value, in its original type $name = $user->name->value(); // SmartArray (companion library): ->toArray() returns a plain nested array $rows = $orders->toArray(); ``` Related Libraries ----------------- [](#related-libraries) - [SmartArray](https://github.com/interactivetools-com/SmartArray) - arrays as collections of SmartStrings, with chainable methods for filtering, sorting, and grouping. - [ZenDB](https://github.com/interactivetools-com/ZenDB) - database library that returns query results as SmartArrays of SmartStrings, so fields arrive HTML-safe. Questions? ---------- [](#questions) This library was developed for CMS Builder, post a message in our "CMS Builder" forum here: License ------- [](#license) MIT ### Health Score 52 — FairBetter than 96% of packages Maintenance93 Actively maintained with recent releases Popularity27 Limited adoption so far Community15 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity60 Established project with proven stability Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 99.2% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~23 days Recently: every ~35 days Total 30 Last Release 42d ago Major Versions v1.3.2 → v2.0.02024-11-27 PHP version history (2 changes)v1.0.0PHP ^8.0 v2.2.0PHP ^8.1 ### Community Maintainers ![](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/498283?v=4)[itools](/maintainers/itools)[@iTools](https://github.com/iTools) --- Top Contributors [![daveedis](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/22456364?v=4)](https://github.com/daveedis "daveedis (117 commits)")[![dependabot[bot]](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/in/29110?v=4)](https://github.com/dependabot[bot] "dependabot[bot] (1 commits)") --- Tags jsonutf8stringsecuritymanipulationencodingmultibytehtmlformatfluentxssEscapesanitizestriptrimchainableUTFmethodstruncateurlencodesmartarray ### Code Quality TestsPHPUnit ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/itools-smartstring/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/itools-smartstring/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/itools-smartstring) ``` ### Alternatives [danielstjules/stringy A string manipulation library with multibyte support 2.4k26.4M193](/packages/danielstjules-stringy)[voku/stringy A string manipulation library with multibyte support 1804.0M28](/packages/voku-stringy)[xemlock/htmlpurifier-html5 HTML5 support for HTML Purifier 1063.3M20](/packages/xemlock-htmlpurifier-html5)[statamic/stringy A string manipulation library with multibyte support, forked from @statamic 245.2M19](/packages/statamic-stringy)[tcb13/substringy A sub string manipulation library with multibyte support that extends Stringy 1761.1k1](/packages/tcb13-substringy)[hallindavid/manny a package of manipulators that hopefully come in useful for those of us who always forget regex when we need it (manny is short for manipulation) 37110.6k3](/packages/hallindavid-manny) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)