IntlChar::charFromName

(PHP 7)

Find Unicode character by name and return its code point value

public static int IntlChar::charFromName ( string $characterName [, int $nameChoice = IntlChar::UNICODE_CHAR_NAME ] )

Finds a Unicode character by its name and returns its code point value.

The name is matched exactly and completely. If the name does not correspond to a code point, FALSE is returned.

A Unicode 1.0 name is matched only if it differs from the modern name. Unicode names are all uppercase. Extended names are lowercase followed by an uppercase hexadecimal number, and within angle brackets.

Parameters:

characterName

Full name of the Unicode character.

nameChoice

Which set of names to use for the lookup. Can be any of these constants:

IntlChar::UNICODE_CHAR_NAME (default)
IntlChar::UNICODE_10_CHAR_NAME
IntlChar::EXTENDED_CHAR_NAME
IntlChar::CHAR_NAME_ALIAS
IntlChar::CHAR_NAME_CHOICE_COUNT

Returns:

The Unicode value of the code point with the given name (as an integer), or FALSE if there is no such code point.

Examples:

Testing different code points

<?php
var_dump(IntlChar::charFromName("LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A"));
var_dump(IntlChar::charFromName("SNOWMAN"));
var_dump(IntlChar::charFromName("RECYCLING SYMBOL FOR TYPE-1 PLASTICS"));
var_dump(IntlChar::charFromName("A RANDOM STRING WHICH DOESN'T CORRESPOND TO ANY UNICODE CHARACTER"));
?>

The above example will output:

int(65)
int(9731)
int(9843)
bool(false)