Building a query string with http_build_query()

To retrieve a page that includes query string variables, use http_build_query( ) to create the query string. It accepts an array of key/value pairs and returns a single string with everything properly escaped. You’re still responsible for the ? in the URL that sets off the query string.

<?php
$vars = array('page' => 4, 'search' => 'this & that');
$qs = http_build_query($vars);
$url = 'http://www.w3mentor.com/search.php?' . $qs;
$page = file_get_contents($url);
?>