regex - PHP - Preg_match_all optional match -

i'm having problems matching the[*] there , not. have suggestions?

$name = 'hello $this->row[today1][] dfh fgh df $this->row[test1] ,how $this->row[test2][] $this->row[today2][*] monday';  echo $name."\n";  preg_match_all( '/\$this->row[.*?][*]/', $name, $match );  var_dump( $match );   

output: hello $this->row[test] ,how $this->row[test2] $this->row[today][*] monday

array (  0 =>    array (    0 => '$this->row[today1][*]',    1 => '$this->row[test1] ,how $this->row[test2][*]',    2 => '$this->row[today2][*]',   ), ) 

now [0][1] match takes on because matching until next '[]' instead of ending @ '$this->row[test]' . i'm guessing [*]/ adds wildcard. somehow need check if next character [ before matching []. anyone?

thanks

[, ] , * special meta characters in regex , need escape them. need make last [] optional per question.

following these suggestions following should work:

$name = 'hello $this->row[today1][] dfh fgh df $this->row[test1] ,how $this->row[test2][] $this->row[today2][*] monday';  echo $name."\n";  preg_match_all( '/\$this->row\[.*?\](?:\[.*?\])?/', $name, $match );  var_dump( $match );  

output:

array(1) {   [0]=>   array(4) {     [0]=>     string(20) "$this->row[today1][]"     [1]=>     string(17) "$this->row[test1]"     [2]=>     string(19) "$this->row[test2][]"     [3]=>     string(21) "$this->row[today2][*]"   } }