Wordpress Get First X Chars From Post

wordpress-get-first-x-chars-from-post.php

<?php
#########################################################
// Get the first X chars from the content post (strips out any html)
// USAGE: get_intro_text($max_char = 75, $content, $more_link_text = '(more...)')
#########################################################
function get_intro_text($max_char, $content, $more_link_text = '(more...)') {
    $content = get_the_content($more_link_text, $stripteaser, $more_file);
    $content = apply_filters('the_content', $content);
    $content = str_replace(']]>', ']]&gt;', $content);
    $content = strip_tags($content);

   if (strlen($_GET['p']) > 0) {
      return $content;
   }
   else if ((strlen($content)>$max_char) && ($espacio = strpos($content, " ", $max_char ))) {
        $content = substr($content, 0, $espacio);
        $content = $content;
        return $content . "...";
   }
   else {
      return $content;
   }
}