$re = '/i18\s*\(\s*[\'"](.+)[\'"]\,.*\)/m';
$str = 'i18(\'Grant (\\\'%s\\\') access to ALL users to feature: \', permission.toUpperCase());
alert(i18("These users already :") exist and were:") \', not added:") + :") ) xxx + "\\n\\n" + msg );
var msg;
if (permission == \'none\') {
msg = i18(\'This action will remove the rights for \\\'%s\\\' from feature: \', userName);
} else if (permission == \'complete\') {
msg = i18(\'Grant ALL rights for \\\'%s\\\' to feature: \', userName);
} else {
msg = i18(\'Grant (\\\'%s\\\') access for \\\'%s\\\' to feature: \', [permission.toUpperCase(), userName]);
}';
preg_match_all($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