Using PHP rawurldecode() to Decode URL‑Encoded Strings

In web development, URLs often contain special characters that must be encoded for proper transmission and parsing; sometimes the encoded URL needs to be decoded back to its original form. PHP offers a set of functions for URL encoding and decoding, one of which is rawurldecode() .

The rawurldecode() function decodes a URL‑encoded string, restoring it to its original representation. It is primarily used to decode strings that were encoded with the urlencode() function.

The syntax of rawurldecode() is:

string rawurldecode ( string $str )

Here, $str is the URL‑encoded string to be decoded, and the function returns the decoded string.

Below is a complete example demonstrating how to use rawurldecode() for URL decoding:

<?php
$url = "https%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2F%3Fq%3D%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%B9%E6%B1%89%E5%AD%97"; // URL encoded with urlencode()

$decodedUrl = rawurldecode($url);

echo $decodedUrl;
?>

In this example, a URL is first encoded with urlencode() and stored in the $url variable. The rawurldecode() function then decodes it, and the result is printed with echo .

Running the code produces the following output:

https://www.example.com/?q=добрый汉字

The output shows that the encoded URL string has been successfully decoded back to its original form.

It is important to note that rawurldecode() only decodes special characters in the URL; it does not process other characters in URL parameters. To decode an entire URL, including plus signs representing spaces, you should use the urldecode() function instead.

In summary, rawurldecode() is a convenient PHP function for decoding URLs that were encoded with urlencode() , restoring them to their original state and ensuring correct handling of URL parameters in web applications.