Help with http_build_query

[Lassie]

I need to append some query strings to url's and am trying to use http_build_query.

I have the following  types of url to build where there are varaibles to append

 

http://www.planningfinder.co.uk/search/near?postcode=EX23+9DZ&radius=5

http://www.crime-statistics.co.uk/postcode/EX23%209DZ

http://api.zoopla.co.uk/api/v1/zed_index?area=TW14TR&output_type=outcode&api_key=1234k

 

I have tried the last one first with the following code but I get an error unknown location form the response.

Is this the right way to build query strings? 

 

 

$post_code=$_GET['post_code'];
$key="1234k";//not a real key
$outcode= "outcode";

$fields = array('area'=>$post_code,
'output_type=>$outcode,
'api_key=>$key);
$url = "http://api.zoopla.co.uk/api/v1/zed_index?" . http_build_query($fields, '', "&");


 

[Lassie]

OK, I have the first one working, but I am still unsure about this format:-http://www.crime-statistics.co.uk/postcode/EX23%209DZ

Would the same approach work as they are not value pairs?

[maxxd]

It looks like that's being routed on the recipient end. So what you've got is the equivalent of www.crime-statistics.co.uk?postcode=EX23 9DZ. Although I'm not sure this will work properly with the space - I should think it should be url-encoded.

[Lassie]

Yes I guess so. What do you mean regarding url-encode?

Also how would I then call the page? eg  echo "<a target=blank href=" . $url . "</a>;

Thanks for your help.

[maxxd]

URL encoding in PHP.

 

And yes, your example is almost correct:

echo "<a target='_blank' href='".$url."'>This Is Example Text</a>";

Note the single quotes around the attribute values and the closing '>' on the opening tag, plus closing quotation marks on the string.

[Lassie]

Hi, Thanks

So does the uRL encode work like this.

 

echo "".urlencode($url)."";

[cyberRobot]

So does the uRL encode work like this.

echo "".urlencode($url)."";

 

According to the documentation (http://php.net/manual/en/function.urlencode.php), the function returns a string. So it should work; give it a try.