PHP Functions Essential Reference

urldecode

string urldecode(string url_encoded_data) 

Decodes a URL-encoded string, converting plus (+ ) signs to spaces.

Returns:

Decoded string; FALSE if the argument passed has no length when converted to a string

Description:

urldecode() is used to decode URL-encoded strings. The function converts all sequences of % followed by two valid hexadecimal digits into the ASCII character referenced by the hex number. Invalid escape sequences (such as %FG) are ignored and left in the string.

The function also converts plus (+) signs into spaces to accommodate the encoding generated by some URL-encoding algorithms.

Availability:

UNIX, Windows

Version:

3+, 4+

See also:

urlencode() 

Example:

Manually decode a query string

// Pretend that a web server ...