How to trim a string to N chars in Javascript?

Question

Why not just use substring... string.substring(0, 7); The first argument (0) is the starting point. The second argument (7) is the ending point (exclusive). More info here.

var string = "this is a string";
var length = 7;
var trimmedString = string.substring(0, length);

Copying Will's comment into an answer, because I found it useful:

var string = "this is a string";
var length = 20;
var trimmedString = string.length > length ? 
                    string.substring(0, length - 3) + "..." : 
                    string;

Thanks Will.

And a jsfiddle for anyone who cares https://jsfiddle.net/t354gw7e/ :)

I suggest to use an extension for code neatness. Note that extending an internal object prototype could potentially mess with libraries that depend on them.

String.prototype.trimEllip = function (length) {
  return this.length > length ? this.substring(0, length) + "..." : this;
}

And use it like:

var stringObject= 'this is a verrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyylllooooooooooooonggggggggggggsssssssssssssttttttttttrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg';
stringObject.trimEllip(25)

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/substr

From link:

string.substr(start[, length])

Little late... I had to respond. This is the simplest way.

// JavaScript
function fixedSize_JS(value, size) {
  return value.padEnd(size).substring(0, size);
}

// JavaScript (Alt)
var fixedSize_JSAlt = function(value, size) {
  return value.padEnd(size).substring(0, size);
}

// Prototype (preferred)
String.prototype.fixedSize = function(size) {
  return this.padEnd(size).substring(0, size);
}

// Overloaded Prototype
function fixedSize(value, size) {
  return value.fixedSize(size);
}

// usage
console.log('Old school JS -> "' + fixedSize_JS('test (30 characters)', 30) + '"');
console.log('Semi-Old school JS -> "' + fixedSize_JSAlt('test (10 characters)', 10) + '"');
console.log('Prototypes (Preferred) -> "' + 'test (25 characters)'.fixedSize(25) + '"');
console.log('Overloaded Prototype (Legacy support) -> "' + fixedSize('test (15 characters)', 15) + '"');

Step by step. .padEnd - Guarentees the length of the string

"The padEnd() method pads the current string with a given string (repeated, if needed) so that the resulting string reaches a given length. The padding is applied from the end (right) of the current string. The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository." source: developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/…

.substring - limits to the length you need

If you choose to add ellipses, append them to the output.

I gave 4 examples of common JavaScript usages. I highly recommend using the String prototype with Overloading for legacy support. It makes it much easier to implement and change later.

    let trimString = function (string, length) {
      return string.length > length ? 
             string.substring(0, length) + '...' :
             string;
    };

Use Case,

let string = 'How to trim a string to N chars in Javascript';

trimString(string, 20);

//How to trim a string...