<?php
$string = "sometext::sometext.0 = INTEGER: 254";
sscanf ($string, "sometext::sometext.0 = INTEGER: %d" , $number );
echo $number;
echo PHP_EOL;
$string = "sometext::sometext.0 = INTEGER: 123456789";
sscanf ($string, "sometext::sometext.0 = INTEGER: %d" , $number );
echo $number;