query_str_to_hash.pl

#this is a utility method that will convert a query string into a hash
sub parse_query_str {
  my $str = shift;
	my %in = ();
	if (length ($str) > 0){
	      my $buffer = $str;
	      my @pairs = split(/&/, $buffer);
	      foreach my $pair (@pairs){
	           my ($name, $value) = split(/=/, $pair);
	           $value =~ s/%([a-fA-F0-9][a-fA-F0-9])/pack("C", hex($1))/eg;
	           $in{$name} = $value; 
	      }
	 }
	return %in;
}