$re = '/(>)()(<\/)/s';
$str = ' <file>
<fileType>Mezza</fileType>
<fileName></fileName>
<any_other_tag></any_other_tag>
<any_other_tag> </any_other_tag>
<segments>0000</segments>
</file>';
$subst = "\1[!] value does not exist!\3";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
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