GET the excerpt by ID

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Why is it that one cannot get the excerpt by ID like with the title and most other elements.

eg. get_the_excerpt(ID). I know how to use it with the $post->post_excerpt function but that does not return part of the content if no excerpt was entered it simple returns nothing.

So what I am trying to do is get the excerpt by ID if there is an excerpt, and if there isn’t an excerpt with that ID but there is some content, to get some of the content instead.

How would one do that.

Any ideas,

Marvellous …

EDIT —

Loop Source Code as Requested.

<?php $stories = get_posts('category_name=feedback&numberposts=4'); 
            foreach ($stories as $post) :
            $title = $post->post_title;
            $excerpt = get_the_excerpt_id($post->ID);
            $thumb = get_the_post_thumbnail($post->ID,array(60, 60, true));?>
              <div class="textstandard_white" style="font-size:14px; line-height:22px; padding-top:10px;"><b><a href="https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/12498/<?php echo get_permalink($post->ID);?>"><?php echo $title;?></a></b></div><div align="left" style="height:18px; width:82px; background:url(http://www.divethegap.com/update/z-images/structure/icons/stars.png) left top no-repeat;"><div id="stars<?php echo $post->ID;?>" align="left" style="height:18px; background:url(http://www.divethegap.com/update/z-images/structure/icons/stars_glow.png) left top no-repeat;">
                  </div>
                  </div>

                  <script type="text/javascript">
                var width<?php echo $post->ID;?> = ((<?php
$Rating = get_post_meta($post->ID, "Rating", true);
echo $Rating;
?> * 20) + '%')
                  $('#stars<?php echo $post->ID;?>').css('width', width<?php echo $post->ID;?>);

                 </script><div class="textstandard_white" style="padding-top:6px; font-size:10px; color:#BBB; padding-bottom:10px; border-bottom:1px dotted #BBB; min-height:70px;"><div style="float:left; padding-right:6px; padding-bottom:6px;"><div style="background:#FFF; border:1px solid #FFF;
border-radius: 4px; -moz-border-radius: 4px ; -webkit-border-radius: 4px; padding:4px;"><a href="https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/12498/<?php echo get_permalink($post->ID);?>"><?php echo $thumb;?></a></div></div>



<?php echo $excerpt;?></div>
              <?php endforeach;?>

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Hi @Robin I. Knight:

I view get_the_excerpt() as a function with legacy design. As WordPress usage has grown there are many newer use-cases where it doesn’t fit but where the newer functions for getting different data do. One example is the now frequent use of an $args array of function options.

But it’s easy to fix for your needs. Here’s an alternative function you can use which you can put anywhere in your theme’s functions.php file:

function robins_get_the_excerpt($post_id) {
  global $post;  
  $save_post = $post;
  $post = get_post($post_id);
  $output = get_the_excerpt();
  $post = $save_post;
  return $output;
}

I’ve not tested it but am pretty sure I got it right. If this doesn’t meet your needs please elaborate and maybe I can make other suggestions.

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