- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- preg_match: documentation ( source)
- mb_ereg_replace: documentation ( source)
<?php
$regex = '/(((?!a).)*)*a\\{/';
$test_string = 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAA{AA';
echo mb_ereg_replace($regex,'WORKED',$test_string);
echo "\n";
var_dump(preg_match($regex,$test_string));