Passing URL variable with & from JS to PHP result

Question

It is a bit difficult to find the proper title for this question for me, so maybe this example will clarify my issue.

I am making an ajax request to pass some variables from a JS to a PHP. One of these variables is a URL with some options, namely

https://www.wondermap.it/cgi-bin/qgis_mapserv.fcgi?map=/home/ubuntu/qgis/projects/Demo_sci_WMS/demo_sci.qgs&SERVICE=WFS&VERSION=1.1.0&REQUEST=GetFeature&TYPENAME=impianti_risalita&

The PHP code is ignoring any options after the first & symbol, considering only this part

https://www.wondermap.it/cgi-bin/qgis_mapserv.fcgi?map=/home/ubuntu/qgis/projects/Demo_sci_WMS/demo_sci.qgs

The AJAX request to the PHP I am making at the moment looks like

https://localhost/shire/php/export_wfs.php?wfs_url=https://www.wondermap.it/cgi-bin/qgis_mapserv.fcgi?map=/home/ubuntu/qgis/projects/Demo_sci_WMS/demo_sci.qgs&SERVICE=WFS&VERSION=1.1.0&REQUEST=GetFeature&TYPENAME=impianti_risalita&format=ESRI%20Shapefile

being wfs_url and format the two parameters the PHP is supposed to process.

I think i am supposed to avoid placing the & symbols in the wfs_url parameter, but I have no idea what should i do instead. Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT

Here is the AJAX call:

var xhr;
if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); // all browsers
else xhr = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); // for IE

// url is https://www.wondermap.it/cgi-bin/qgis_mapserv.fcgi?map=/home/ubuntu/qgis/projects/Demo_sci_WMS/demo_sci.qgs&SERVICE=WFS&VERSION=1.1.0&REQUEST=GetFeature&TYPENAME=impianti_risalita&
var php_url = window.location.protocol + "//" + window.location.hostname + '/shire/php/export_wfs.php?wfs_url=' + url + 'format=' + format_list[0];
xhr.open('GET', php_url, false);
xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {
    if (xhr.readyState===4 && xhr.status===200) {
        alert('Downloading...');
    }
}
xhr.send();

return false;
});

Answer 1

try including this function (base64_encode):

var php_url = window.location.protocol + "//" + window.location.hostname + '/shire/php/export_wfs.php?wfs_url=' + base64_encode(url) + 'format=' + base64_encode(format_list[0]);

and on the server side:

$wfs_url = base64_decode($_GET['wfs_url']);
$format = base64_decode($_GET['format']);

Answer 2

Here's how to send it as POST request:

var php_url = '/shire/php/export_wfs.php';
var formData = new FormData();
formData.append('wfs_url', url);
formData.append('format', format_list[0]);
xhr.open('POST', php_url);
xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {
    if (xhr.readyState===4 && xhr.status===200) {
        alert('Server reply: ' + xhr.responseText);
    }
}
xhr.send(formData);