List of specials is incomplete:
--- sample code ---
$specials = '.\+*?[^]$(){}=!<>|:-';
for ($i = 0; $i <= 255; $i++) {
if (chr($i) !== preg_quote(chr($i))) {
printf("Character 0x%02x quoted%s\n",
$i,
(strpos($specials, chr($i)) === FALSE) ? ' (+)' : '');
} /* if */
} /* for */
--- sample code ---
--- output ---
Character 0x00 quoted (+)
Character 0x21 quoted
Character 0x24 quoted
Character 0x28 quoted
Character 0x29 quoted
Character 0x2a quoted
Character 0x2b quoted
Character 0x2d quoted
Character 0x2e quoted
Character 0x3a quoted
Character 0x3c quoted
Character 0x3d quoted
Character 0x3e quoted
Character 0x3f quoted
Character 0x5b quoted
Character 0x5c quoted
Character 0x5d quoted
Character 0x5e quoted
Character 0x7b quoted
Character 0x7c quoted
Character 0x7d quoted
--- output ---