$re = '/^(?:(?<real>\d+(?:(?:\.\d+)?(?:e[+\-]\d+)?)?)?(?:[+\-]))?(?<imaginary>\d+(?:(?:\.\d+)?(?:e[+\-]\d+)?)?)?[iI]$/m';
$str = '1.23e+45-67.89e-1256i
3
3+4i
3+4I
3-4i
+4i
-2i
3+i
4-i
+i
-i
i';
preg_match_all($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