$enc_string is the encoded string to decode. This function will return the decoded string when executed. As was the case with urlencode(), there is a sister function that is for spaces represented by their hexadecimal valuerawurldecode().
Encoding and Decoding Binary Data
Another function useful when dealing with encoding of data, particularly binary data, is the base64_encode() function. The syntax for this function is as follows:
base64_encode($data)
$data represents the data to encode. When executed, this function returns the data contained within the $data variable in base64 format.
In a similar fashion, PHP can also decode data received in base64 format back into its original state via the base64_decode() function. Like its counterpart, the syntax for this function is:
base64_decode($enc_string);
$enc_string is the base64 encoded string to decode. This function returns the original data that had been encoded.
