- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- preg_replace: documentation ( source)
- sprintf: documentation ( source)
<?php
$url = 'htttp://www.foobar.de/slideshow?parms=11,22,33&something=else';
$newSlideNo = 44;
$searchPattern = '/(.*\d*,\d*,)(\d*)(.*)/';
$replacePattern = sprintf('${1}' . $newSlideNo . '${3}');
var_dump(preg_replace($searchPattern, $replacePattern, $url));