Description
void 
parse_str ( string str [, array &arr] )
     Parses str as if it were the query string
     passed via a URL and sets variables in the current scope. If 
     the second parameter arr is present, 
     variables are stored in this variable as array elements instead. 
    
Note: 
      Support for the optional second parameter was added in PHP 4.0.3.
     
Note: 
      The magic_quotes_gpc setting
      affects the output of this function, as parse_str() uses
      the same mechanism that PHP uses to populate the $_GET,
      $_POST, etc. variables.
     
     
Example 1. Using parse_str() 
<?php $str = "first=value&arr[]=foo+bar&arr[]=baz"; parse_str($str); echo $first;  // value echo $arr[0]; // foo bar echo $arr[1]; // baz
  parse_str($str, $output); echo $output['first'];  // value echo $output['arr'][0]; // foo bar echo $output['arr'][1]; // baz
  ?>
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     See also parse_url(), pathinfo(),
     http_build_query(),
     get_magic_quotes_gpc(), and urldecode().