Convert a string into list of arrays

Question

How do I convert a REQUEST string into arrays in a list like the following?

$_REQUEST["InventoryData"] == sku=qty&234444=11&ShirtBig=111&ShirtSmall=101&empty=0

Array ( [0] => sku [1] => qty ) 
Array ( [0] => 234444 [1] => 11 ) 
Array ( [0] => ShirtBig [1] => 111 ) 
Array ( [0] => ShirtSmall [1] => 101 ) 
Array ( [0] => empty [1] => 0 )

This is a modification of "MASS UPDATE STOCK LEVELS IN MAGENTO – FAST" script for updating using a client side submission of data.

Answer 1

$result = array();
parse_str($_REQUEST['InventoryData'], $data);
foreach ($data as $key => $value) {
    $result[] = array($key, $value);
}

Answer 2

You could use the explode function to split strings into arrays by a certain character: http://php.net/manual/en/function.explode.php

However you may need to do some string manipulation to get that string into the structure you posted.