Regex Lazy Operator

regex-laxy-operator-example.php

<?php
  /*
    Trying to capture text that is wrapped in curly braces (e.g. {example})
    Problem: [\S\ ]* would capture multiple tags that are on the same line.
  */
  
  preg_match_all("(\{[\S\ ]*\})", $template, $tags);
  // $tags = "{field=first_name} - {field=last_name}" ]
  
  /*
    Solution: Add a ? after the group quantifier to make it lazy and stop after the first occurence of the next character.
    In our example [\S\ ]*\} we want to stop at the first ending curly brace.
  */
  
  preg_match_all("(\{[\S\ ]*?\})", $template, $tags);
  // $tags = ["{field=first_name}", "{field=last_name}"]
?>