How to handle an un-encoded special character in a url query string?

Question

I have a url like this:

http://www.nearbynursinghomes.com/innerpage.php?state=CA&city=RIVERSIDE&shop=ALTA%20VISTA%20HEALTHCARE%20&%20WELLNESS%20CENTRE

I'm currently using this code:

$category = $_GET["state"]; $city= $_GET["city"]; $shop= $_GET["shop"]; if (isset($_GET["page"])) { $page = $_GET["page"]; } else { $page=1; }; $start_from = ($page-1) * $results_per_page; $sql = "SELECT * FROM $datatable WHERE STATE='$category' AND CITY='$city' AND PROVNAME='$shop' ORDER BY PROVNAME ASC LIMIT $start_from, $results_per_page" ; $rs_result = $conn->query($sql);

However it doesn't return the proper value because of the & in the middle of the value which says shop=ALTA%20VISTA%20HEALTHCARE%20&%20WELLNESS%20CENTRE.

It just gets cut off. How would I fix this?

look at this link stackoverflow.com/a/16622542/1484621

Yu Jiaao
– Yu Jiaao

2017-03-31 04:21:59 +00:00
Commented Mar 31, 2017 at 4:21 — Yu Jiaao
– Yu Jiaao, Commented Mar 31, 2017 at 4:21

mickmackusa · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-15 13:14:31Z

You have a malformed querystring in your url. You should do everything in your power to correct this at its source.

If you are unable to do so, then a workaround is the best you can do.

This is not a particularly efficient method, nor a simple pattern (Pattern Demo), but it will work on your sample string.

You can leverage $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] or whatever you wish to capture your url, then use this preg_match() method (PHP Demo):

$url=urldecode('http://www.nearbynursinghomes.com/innerpage.php?state=CA&city=RIVERSIDE&shop=ALTA%20VISTA%20HEALTHCARE%20&%20WELLNESS%20CENTRE'); if(preg_match_all('/(?<=[?&])([^=]+)=\K[^=]+(?=&|$)/',$url,$qs)){ // key------^^^^^^^ ^^^^^-------value $array=array_combine($qs[1],$qs[0]); var_export($array); }

Output:

array ( 'state' => 'CA', 'city' => 'RIVERSIDE', 'shop' => 'ALTA VISTA HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS CENTRE', )

Then you can reference those array elements when you write your MySQLi prepared statements with placeholders.

If you are happy to access the other key-value pairs with $_GET and only want to extract the shop value then this is simple/direct way:

Code: (Demo)

$url = urldecode('http://www.nearbynursinghomes.com/innerpage.php?state=CA&city=RIVERSIDE&shop=ALTA%20VISTA%20HEALTHCARE%20&%20WELLNESS%20CENTRE&page=4'); echo preg_match('~[?&]shop=\K[^=]+(?=&|$)~', $url, $out) ? $out[0] : '[fail]';

Output:

ALTA VISTA HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS CENTRE

(Pattern Demo)

@Charles thanks for the upvote. I have extended my answer to include a simpler, shop-specific solution.

Charles Park · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-31 14:35:09Z

After a good nights rest i came up with this solution using the tools provided here.

$shop= $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']; $shop= explode("=", $shop,4); $shop= $shop[3]; $shop= urldecode("$shop");

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