Create preg_match for password validation allowing (!@#$%)

I liked r3bel's answer, so I had a play with it and ended up with the following as a password-checking function:

function password_strength_check($password, $min_len = 8, $max_len = 70, $req_digit = 1, $req_lower = 1, $req_upper = 1, $req_symbol = 1) {
    // Build regex string depending on requirements for the password
    $regex = '/^';
    if ($req_digit == 1) { $regex .= '(?=.*\d)'; }              // Match at least 1 digit
    if ($req_lower == 1) { $regex .= '(?=.*[a-z])'; }           // Match at least 1 lowercase letter
    if ($req_upper == 1) { $regex .= '(?=.*[A-Z])'; }           // Match at least 1 uppercase letter
    if ($req_symbol == 1) { $regex .= '(?=.*[^a-zA-Z\d])'; }    // Match at least 1 character that is none of the above
    $regex .= '.{' . $min_len . ',' . $max_len . '}$/';

    if(preg_match($regex, $password)) {
        return TRUE;
    } else {
        return FALSE;
    }
}

Max/Min lengths are default or adjustable, each requirement is default on, but can be switched off, and I wanted to support any symbols so the last requirement is "anything that isn't one of the above types", rather than a fixed set of symbols.

I think this should look like that:

if(!preg_match('/^(?=.*\d)(?=.*[A-Za-z])[0-9A-Za-z!@#$%]{8,12}$/', $password)) {
    echo 'the password does not meet the requirements!';
}

Between start -> ^
And end -> $
of the string there has to be at least one number -> (?=.*\d)
and at least one letter -> (?=.*[A-Za-z])
and it has to be a number, a letter or one of the following: !@#$% -> [0-9A-Za-z!@#$%]
and there have to be 8-12 characters -> {8,12}

As user557846 commented to your question, I would also suggest you to allow more characters, I usually (if i use a maximum) take at least 50 :)

btw, you might want to take a look at this regex tutorial

preg_match('/^(?=.*\d)(?=.*[@#\-_$%^&+=§!\?])(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])[0-9A-Za-z@#\-_$%^&+=§!\?]{8,20}$/',$password)

• at least one lowercase char
• at least one uppercase char
• at least one digit
• at least one special sign of @#-_$%^&+=§!?