Why are standard PHP string functions ineffective on JSON-encoded values?

Solution:

You can extract content inside parentheses using preg_match() and the $matches array:

$pattern = '/\((.*)\)/';
preg_match($pattern, $string, $matches);

echo $matches[1]; // Contains the text inside the parentheses

✅ Explanation:

\( and \) match literal parentheses.

(.*) is a capturing group that matches everything inside.

$matches[1] contains the captured text.