Convert the first character of "word" to uppercase (Multi Byte Helper For CodeIgniter)

gistfile1.txt

<?php

if (!defined('BASEPATH'))
    exit('No direct script access allowed');

function mb_ucfirst($str, $encoding = "UTF-8", $lower_str_end = false) {
    $first_letter = mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($str, 0, 1, $encoding), $encoding);
    $str_end = "";
    if ($lower_str_end) {
        $str_end = mb_strtolower(mb_substr($str, 1, mb_strlen($str, $encoding), $encoding), $encoding);
    } else {
        $str_end = mb_substr($str, 1, mb_strlen($str, $encoding), $encoding);
    }
    $str = $first_letter . $str_end;
    return $str;
}