$re = '/(?<pnum>[\dA-Z]{9}).(?<nat>\w{3})(?<yob>\d{2})(?<mob>\d{2})(?<dob>\d{2}).(?<sex>M|F|<{1})(?<yoe>\d{2})(?<moe>\d{2})(?<doe>\d{2}).(?<prnum>[]\d|<A-Z]{16})/';
$str = 'XDB0602173ESP9009224M1808052RE20040086234046';
preg_match($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