- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- preg_replace: documentation ( source)
- mb_ereg_replace: documentation ( source)
<?php
$regex = '(((?!a).)*)*a\\{';
$test_string = 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAA{AA';
echo "1:".var_dump(mb_ereg_replace($regex,'WORKED',$test_string))."\n";
echo "2:".var_dump(preg_replace('/'.$regex.'/u','WORKED',$test_string))."\n";
echo "3:".preg_replace('/'.$regex.'/','WORKED',$test_string)."\n";