- print_r: documentation ( source)
<?php
$str = 'ananas';
$re = "^an|^ananas";
ereg($re, $str, $m);
echo "$re\n", print_r($m, true), "\n";
$re = "^an.|^an(.)";
ereg($re, $str, $m);
echo "$re\n", print_r($m, true), "\n";
$re = "^an(.)|^an.";
ereg($re, $str, $m);
echo "$re\n", print_r($m, true);