function _pad($text)
    {
        $length = strlen($text);

        if (!$this->padding) {
            if ($length % $this->block_size == 0) {
                return $text;
            } else {
                user_error("The plaintext's length ($length) is not a multiple of the block size ({$this->block_size})");
                $this->padding = true;
            }
        }

        $pad = $this->block_size - ($length % $this->block_size);

        return str_pad($text, $length + $pad, chr($pad));
    }