parsing "query" part of URL

[Anon]

If I add a "query" parameter to a URL that calls a php script like this:

http://blargo.com/test.php?foo=123&bar=abc

I would like this to cause a php variable "$foo" to be defined with the value "123", and so forth. How can this be done in PHP?

I did find that $GLOBALS["QUERY_STRING"] contains the whole query string "foo=123&bar=abc" but I'd prefer something already parsed. 😉

[Anon]

if you use $foo anywere in your php, it will be 123

[Anon]

Jeff,

I guess you are new to PHP? :-)

What you want is default behaviour for the newer PHP installations (ver3.x and up I think)

Just try to call your script from your browser with the foo=bla in the URL, and let your script print $foo.

If that doesn't work you may have to change your php.ini.
In that case, take a look at the manual.

You can also access the foo value in an associative array called $HTTP_GET_VARS. Again, check out the manual for more info.

[Anon]

if you use $foo anywere in your php, it will be 123

I figured out the problem. Actually, your statement isn't quite correct, at least to a newbie who didn't know php's scoping rules. :*)

I was trying to access $foo (or even $HTTP_GET_VARS) from inside a function. If this was Java or C that would work fine, but in PHP, you cannot access globals from inside a function without explicitely declaring them in that function as globals.