www.mikescher.com/www/protected/components/MsHelper.php

<?php

class MsHelper {
	public static function getStringDBVar($name)
	{
		$connection = Yii::app()->db;

		$command=$connection->createCommand("SELECT SValue FROM {{othervalues}} WHERE Name = '$name'");
		$val = $command->queryScalar();

		return $val;
	}

	public static function getIntDBVar($name)
	{
		$connection = Yii::app()->db;

		$command=$connection->createCommand("SELECT [Value] FROM {{othervalues}} WHERE Name = '$name'");
		$val = $command->queryScalar();

		return $val;
	}

	public static function startsWith($haystack, $needle)
	{
		$length = strlen($needle);
		return (substr($haystack, 0, $length) === $needle);
	}

	public static function endsWith($haystack, $needle)
	{
		$length = strlen($needle);
		if ($length == 0) {
			return true;
		}

		return (substr($haystack, -$length) === $needle);
	}
}