How to echo a char "N" times

without looping

[Gian04]

Is there a function wherein I can replace and display a character "N" without looping

Example:
$var1 = abc // output *** (3 asterisk)
$var2 = defghijklmn // *********** (11 asterisk)

[coopster]

A regular expression would work or you could use str_repeat, using the length of the string as the multiplier argument.

<pre> 
<?php 
$var1 = 'abc'; 
$var2 = 'defghijklmn'; 
print "$var1\n"; 
print "$var2\n"; 
print preg_replace('/./', '*', $var1) . "\n"; 
print preg_replace('/./', '*', $var2) . "\n"; 
print str_repeat('*', strlen($var1)) . "\n"; 
print str_repeat('*', strlen($var2)) . "\n"; 
?> 
</pre>

[Gian04]

Thanks coopster,

str_repeat is the one I need