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