How Can I Parse a Query String into an Array in PHP?

Parsing Query Strings into Arrays

In the realm of web programming, it's often necessary to manipulate query strings – snippets of data appended to URLs. One common task is to parse these strings into structured arrays for easier handling.

Consider this query string:

pg_id=2&parent_id=2&document&video

Our goal is to convert this string into an array resembling:

array(
    'pg_id' => 2,
    'parent_id' => 2,
    'document' => ,
    'video' =>
)

The Solution: parse_str Function

PHP's parse_str function excels at this task. It takes two parameters: the query string to parse and an output array variable. By specifying the second parameter, we instruct the function to populate an array with retrieved key-value pairs.

Code Demonstration

$queryString = "pg_id=2&parent_id=2&document&video";
parse_str($queryString, $queryArray);

print_r($queryArray);

This code assigns the query string to the $queryString variable and invokes parse_str to populate the empty $queryArray with the parsed data. The resulting array can be displayed using print_r.

Output:

Array
(
    [pg_id] => 2
    [parent_id] => 2
    [document] =>
    [video] =>
)

Additional Notes

• Keep in mind that parse_str differentiates between arrays and strings in query strings.
• For example, if "document[]" appears in the query string, parse_str will interpret it as an array in the output.
• By setting the second parameter to true, parse_str treats all values as strings instead of automatically coercing them to their appropriate types.

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