Is there a PHP function to convert a query string to an array?

Question

I'm basically looking for the opposite of http_build_query().

I have the following as a string:

foo=bar&bar[var]=foo

And I want the following (to pass into http_build_query):

array(
    'foo' => 'bar',
    'bar' => array(
         'var' => 'foo',
    )
)

Answer 1

You want parse_str(). Pass it an array as the 2nd parameter and it will extract variables from the query string you give it into the array:

<?php
$str = "first=value&arr[]=foo+bar&arr[]=baz";

parse_str($str, $output);

print_r($output);

/*
Array
(
    [first] => value
    [arr] => Array
        (
            [0] => foo bar
            [1] => baz
        )

)
*/

Notice this is the very first related function listed on the http_build_query page.