Table 3: Summary of the QUERY_STRING environment variable

Observe this sample QUERY_STRING:
ITEM_NAME=lawn+mower&ITEM_ID=alpha%13

Sent from a form, the control characters are interpreted as follows:

&    -   separates each form input item

=    -   separates form input name from its data value

+    -   indicates a space character in an input's data value

%13  -   carriage return added by the web browser

So, properly parsed, the above sample QUERY_STRING is read as:

ITEM_NAME = lawn mower
ITEM_ID = alpha