Question

I want to echo mysql data from a TEXT column, and preserve the breaks. I’m using <pre> to do this, but this then ignores the style="word-break:break-word;"

pseudo example:

<?php echo '<pre>'; ?>
<div style="width: 100px; word-break:break-word">
LonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglong

LonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglongLonglonglong
</div>
<?php echo '</pre>'; ?>

(the text inside the div is pulled from mysql)

break-word; in this example will have no effect, because the text is wrapped with <pre> tags. How can I preserve the line breaks of the original text, but induce a word break when I display it?

Answer 1

use the nl2br function. It will add <br/> tags when new lines sould be.

<div style="width: 100px; word-break:break-word">
    <?php echo nl2br($yourVeryLongTextWithLineBreaks); ?>
</div>