$re = '/^(?(?=#).*\n(.)|(?(?=.#).*\n.(.)|(?(?=..#).*\n..(.)|(?(?=...#).*\n...(.)|(?(?=^....#).*\n....(.)|(?(?=^.{5}#).*\n.{5}(.)|(?(?=^.{6}#).*\n.{6}(.)|#))))))).*$/m';
$str = '#AB
xyz
A#B
xyz
X#ZEAKBLA
123456789
XIZEAK#LA
123456789
';
preg_match_all($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