> I’d like to start the discussion period for the Grapheme Mask RFC: > > https://wiki.php.net/rfc/grapheme_mask > > The RFC proposes `grapheme_mask()` for the Intl extension, with Unicode-aware > masking based on grapheme cluster boundaries. >
Hi Sepehr, Thank you for the work put into the RFC. **Opinion**: I agree that Grapheme is the right place for this function, but a `str_*` function would have improved its "natural discovery." Perhaps adding a `str_mask` in addition to the `grapheme_mask` makes more sense? **Suggestion**: I find the limitations of `$start` and `$length` too restrictive. Laravel's `Str::mask`[^1] for example offers more expressive control over the offset and length. Two of the more common string masking callsites are when you mask an email address while revealing the domain name and 1-2 characters of the username part, or showing only the last four characters of a payment card number. Because different use cases require different masking patterns, I think the proposed `grapheme_mask` function will not be an easy drop-in replacement. However, I think providing a built-in masking function in the language is a good move, not an unnecessary feature. [^1]: https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/strings#method-str-mask
