- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- json_decode: documentation ( source)
- json_last_error: documentation ( source)
<?php
$buffer = '{"format": {"rule": ["matches","/^(0[1-9]|1[012])[- /.](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[- /.](19|20)\\d\\d$/"],"message":"Applications.submit_birthdate_format"}}';
var_dump(json_decode($buffer), json_last_error(), JSON_ERROR_SYNTAX);