- preg_match: documentation ( source)
- var_export: documentation ( source)
- max: documentation ( source)
<?php
$str = "234 567 some text following";
$start = 3;
var_export(
preg_match(
'/.{' . max($start - 1, 0) . '}\K.*\d/',
$str,
$match
)
? $match[0]
: 'no match'
);