Replace 1st letter in string with graphical equivalent

[Leao]

Hi,

I would like the first letter in a string I retrieve from an mySQL database to be converted into a graphic (an ornamental rendering of the same letter).

E.g. a text such as:
Somewhere in the Middle East.

Would automatically turn into:
<img src="pictures/s.jpg" alt="S">omewhere in the Middle East.

The following is the code I am currently using on a dynamic PHP webpage. The code at the mo just retrieves a text from a database, formats the text and then echoes it:

$goatswiththe=$_GET['goatswiththe'];
mysql_connect("server","user","password") or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db("goatswi_db") or die(mysql_error());
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM goattext_eng") or die(mysql_error());
$row = mysql_fetch_array( $result );$goattext = $row[$goatswiththe];

function nl2p($goatfunction)
{
$goatfunction = str_replace("\r\n\r\n", "</p><p class='english'>", $goatfunction);
$goatfunction = str_replace("\r\n", "<br>", $goatfunction);
$goatfunction = str_replace("</p><p class='english'>", "</p>\n<p class='english'>", $goatfunction);
$goatfunction = str_replace("\r", '', $goatfunction);
$goatfunction = str_replace("<p class='english'></p>", '', $goatfunction);
return $goatfunction;
}

$fomattedtext = nl2p($goattext); 

echo "$fomattedtext"

ANY IDEAS?

Many, many thanks,

Leao

[NogDog]

<?php
$text = "This is a test.";
$text = substr_replace(
   $text,
   "<a href='/images/letters/".strtoupper(substr($text, 0, 1)).".png'>",
   0,
   1
);
echo "<pre>".htmlentities($text)."</pre>";

Output:

<a href='/images/letters/T.png'>his is a test.

[/code]

[laserlight]

Perhaps this would be simpler and more accurate:

<?php
$text = 'This is a test.';
// Assume that $text has at least one character and that that character has
// an image representation.
$text = '<img src="/images/letters/' . strtolower($text[0]) . '.png" alt="'
    . strtoupper($text[0]) . '" />' . substr($text, 1);

echo '<pre>' . htmlentities($text) . '</pre>';