$re = '/^.*,YEAR=([0-9]{4}).*,MONTH=([0-9]{1,2}).*DAY_OF_MONTH=([0-9]{1,2}).*$/';
$str = 'java.util.GregorianCalendar[time=1410521241348,areFieldsSet=true,areAllFieldsSet=true,lenient=true,zone=sun.util.calendar.ZoneInfo[id="Europe/London",offset=0,dstSavings=3600000,useDaylight=true,transitions=242,lastRule=java.util.SimpleTimeZone[id=Europe/London,offset=0,dstSavings=3600000,useDaylight=true,startYear=0,startMode=2,startMonth=2,startDay=-1,startDayOfWeek=1,startTime=3600000,startTimeMode=2,endMode=2,endMonth=9,endDay=-1,endDayOfWeek=1,endTime=3600000,endTimeMode=2]],firstDayOfWeek=1,minimalDaysInFirstWeek=1,ERA=1,YEAR=2014,MONTH=8,WEEK_OF_YEAR=37,WEEK_OF_MONTH=2,DAY_OF_MONTH=12,DAY_OF_YEAR=255,DAY_OF_WEEK=6,DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH=2,AM_PM=1,HOUR=0,HOUR_OF_DAY=12,MINUTE=27,SECOND=21,MILLISECOND=348,ZONE_OFFSET=0,DST_OFFSET=3600000]';
preg_match($re, $str, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($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