<?php $s = "-rw----r-- 1 3312 users 300234 Dec 26 10:07 capture_IC616.jpg"; preg_match('/'. str_repeat('([^\s]+)\s+',7) . '([^\s]+) (.+)/', $s, $matches); $ff = array_slice($matches, 1); echo "<pre>"; print_r($ff); echo "</pre>"; ?>