Parse POST/GET requests by one simple function.

php_parse_request.php

<?php
function parse_request($vars, $encode_html = false, $return = false) {
	$vars = explode(",", $vars);
	if ($return) {
		foreach ($vars as $value) {
			$value = trim($value); // trim extra spaces
			$result[$value] = get_var($value, $encode_html);
		}
		return $result; // returns associative array
	} else {
		foreach ($vars as $value) {
			$value = trim($value); // trim extra spaces
			global $$value;
			$$value = get_var($value, $encode_html); // global scope variable
		}
	}
}

function get_var($var, $encode_html = false) {
	if (!empty($_REQUEST[$var]) || $_REQUEST[$var] == 0) {
		return ($encode_html) ? htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST[$var], ENT_QUOTES) : $_REQUEST[$var];
	}
	return false;
}
?>