function getRequestVar($varName)
{
    if (array_key_exists($varName,$_REQUEST))
    {
        if (is_array($_REQUEST[$varName]))
        {
            $tmpArr = $_REQUEST[$varName];
            foreach($tmpArr as $key => $value);
            {
                $tmpArr[$key] = htmlentities(trim($value), ENT_QUOTES);
            }

            return $tmpArr;

        } else {
            return htmlentities(trim($_REQUEST[$varName]), ENT_QUOTES);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        return '';
    }
}