- preg_match: documentation ( source)
- print_r: documentation ( source)
<?php
$year = "2008";
$range = "2008-2013";
$regex = "/^(\d{0,4}+(?:-\d{0,4}+)?)$/is";
$matches = array(array());
preg_match($regex, $range, $matches[0], 1);
preg_match($regex, $year, $matches[1], 1);
print_r($matches);
?>