The following patch modifies parse_str() to optionally save variables into an array, rather than into the current variable space.

Usage:

Normal:
	parse_str(encodedString);

Saves variables into the output array, rather than into the current variable space:
	parse_str(encodedString, outputArray);

This has been used in a production environment for at least six months with no problems. (The patch was originally written for PHP3.) I'm hoping this can get included with PHP so I don't have to keep repatching whenever a new PHP version is released.

John Bafford
dshadow@zort.net

--

*** string.old	Mon Jul 24 17:14:32 2000
--- string.c	Mon Jul 24 17:16:23 2000
***************
*** 2162,2184 ****
  }
  /* }}} */
  
! /* {{{ proto void parse_str(string encoded_string)
!    Parses GET/POST/COOKIE data and sets global variables. */
  PHP_FUNCTION(parse_str)
  {
! 	zval **arg;
  	char *res = NULL;
  	PLS_FETCH();
  	SLS_FETCH();
! 
! 	if (zend_get_parameters_ex(1, &arg) == FAILURE) {
  		WRONG_PARAM_COUNT;
  	}
  	convert_to_string_ex(arg);
! 	if ((*arg)->value.str.val && *(*arg)->value.str.val) {
! 		res = estrndup((*arg)->value.str.val,(*arg)->value.str.len);
  	}
! 	php_treat_data(PARSE_STRING, res ELS_CC PLS_CC SLS_CC);
  }
  /* }}} */
  
--- 2162,2227 ----
  }
  /* }}} */
  
! /* {{{ proto void parse_str(string encoded_string, [array storage])
!    Parses GET/POST/COOKIE data and sets global variables.
!    Stores into storage if array is given
! */
  PHP_FUNCTION(parse_str)
  {
! 	zval **arg, **arrayArg;
! 	zval *sarg;
  	char *res = NULL;
+ 	int argCount;
+ 	
  	PLS_FETCH();
  	SLS_FETCH();
! 	
! 	argCount = ARG_COUNT(ht);
! 	if(argCount < 1 || argCount > 2 || zend_get_parameters_ex(argCount, &arg, &arrayArg) == FAILURE) {
  		WRONG_PARAM_COUNT;
  	}
+ 	
  	convert_to_string_ex(arg);
! 	sarg = *arg;
! 	if (sarg->value.str.val && *sarg->value.str.val) {
! 		res = estrndup(sarg->value.str.val, sarg->value.str.len);
  	}
! 	
! 	if(argCount == 1)
! 		php_treat_data(PARSE_STRING, res ELS_CC PLS_CC SLS_CC);
! 	else
! 	{
! 		if(!ParameterPassedByReference(ht, 2)){
! 			php3_error(E_WARNING, "Array not passed by reference in call to parse_str()");
! 			return;
! 		}
! 		
! 		//Clear out the array that was passed in
! 		pval_destructor(*arrayArg);
! 		array_init(*arrayArg);
! 		
! 		if(res) //hacked up php_treat_data
! 		{
! 			char *var, *val;
! 		
! 			var = strtok(res, PG(arg_separator));
! 			
! 			while (var) {
! 				val = strchr(var, '=');
! 				if (val) { /* have a value */
! 					*val++ = '\0';
! 					/* FIXME: XXX: not binary safe, discards returned length */
! 					php_url_decode(var, strlen(var));
! 					php_url_decode(val, strlen(val));
! 					
! 					add_assoc_string(*arrayArg, var, val, 1);
! 				}
! 				var = strtok(NULL, PG(arg_separator));
! 			}
! 		}
! 	}
! 	
! 	efree(res);
  }
  /* }}} */
  
*** basic_functions.old	Mon Jul 24 17:20:49 2000
--- basic_functions.c	Mon Jul 24 17:20:51 2000
***************
*** 169,175 ****
  	PHP_FE(levenshtein,									NULL)
  	PHP_FE(chr,										NULL)
  	PHP_FE(ord,										NULL)
! 	PHP_FE(parse_str,								NULL)
  	PHP_FE(str_pad,									NULL)
  	PHP_FALIAS(rtrim,			chop,				NULL)
  	PHP_FALIAS(strchr,			strstr,				NULL)
--- 169,175 ----
  	PHP_FE(levenshtein,									NULL)
  	PHP_FE(chr,										NULL)
  	PHP_FE(ord,										NULL)
! 	PHP_FE(parse_str,								second_arg_force_ref)
  	PHP_FE(str_pad,									NULL)
  	PHP_FALIAS(rtrim,			chop,				NULL)
  	PHP_FALIAS(strchr,			strstr,				NULL)