$re = '/((?<func>latest|diff|avg|median|total|rollingmedian|rollingavg)\((?<par>[^(),]*),(?<uom>[^(),]*)(?:,(?<sp>[^()]*|))?\))|((?<func1>diffdays)\((?<par1>[^(),]*)(?:,(?<sp1>[^()]*|))?\))+/';
$str = 'rollingmedian( ecoli, orgs/100mL, [tat10, tat11] ) + latest(ecoli,) + diffdays(ecoli)';
preg_match_all($re, $str, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($matches);
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php