JavaScript Max Characters String Function

Have you ever needed to limit the number of characters in a string in JavaScript? Well, look no further! Here's a function that will do just that for you:

/**
 * Truncates a string to a specified length and adds an ellipsis ('...') to the end if it was truncated.
 * @param {string} str - The string to truncate.
 * @param {number} maxLength - The maximum length of the string.
 * @return {string} - The truncated string.
 */
function truncateString(str, maxLength) {
  if (str.length > maxLength) {
    return str.slice(0, maxLength) + '...';
  }
  return str;
}

How to Use the Function

To use this function, simply call it with the string you want to truncate and the maximum number of characters you want to allow in that string:

const originalString = 'This is a really long string that needs to be truncated.';
const maxLength = 20;
const truncatedString = truncateString(originalString, maxLength);

console.log(truncatedString); // Output: "This is a really lon..."

How the Function Works

The function first checks if the length of the string is greater than the maximum length specified. If it is, it uses the slice() method to extract a portion of the string from the beginning to the maximum length and adds an ellipsis to the end.

If the length of the string is less than or equal to the maximum length, the function simply returns the original string.

I hope you find this function useful in your JavaScript projects!