Here is a little example of how an extraction method should look like when it needs to work recursive (work on nested_arrays too)...

Note that this is only an example, it can be done more easily, and more advanced too.

<?php
/**
 * A nested version of the extract () function.
 *
 * @param    array    $array        The array which to extract the variables from
 * @param    int        $type        The type to use to overwrite (follows the same as extract () on PHP 5.0.3
 * @param    string    $prefix        The prefix to be used for a variable when necessary
 */
function extract_nested (&$array, $type = EXTR_OVERWRITE, $prefix = '')
{
    /**
     *  Is the array really an array?
     */
    if (!is_array ($array))
    {
        return trigger_error ('extract_nested (): First argument should be an array', E_USER_WARNING);
    }

    /**
     *  If the prefix is set, check if the prefix matches an acceptable regex pattern 
     * (the one used for variables)
     */
    if (!empty ($prefix) && !preg_match ('#^[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*$#', $prefix))
    {
        return trigger_error ('extract_nested (): Third argument should start with a letter or an underscore', E_USER_WARNING);
    }

    /**
     * Check if a prefix is necessary. If so and it is empty return an error.
     */
    if (($type == EXTR_PREFIX_SAME || $type == EXTR_PREFIX_ALL || $type == EXTR_PREFIX_IF_EXISTS) && empty ($prefix))
    {
        return trigger_error ('extract_nested (): Prefix expected to be specified', E_USER_WARNING);
    }

    /**
     * Make sure the prefix is oke
     */
    $prefix = $prefix . '_';

    /**
     *  Loop thru the array
     */
    foreach ($array as $key => $val)
    {
        /**
         *  If the key isn't an array extract it as we need to do
         */
        if (!is_array ($array[$key]))
        {
            switch ($type)
            {
                default:
                case EXTR_OVERWRITE:
                    $GLOBALS[$key] = $val;
                break;
                case EXTR_SKIP:
                    $GLOBALS[$key] = isset ($GLOBALS[$key]) ? $GLOBALS[$key] : $val;
                break;
                case EXTR_PREFIX_SAME:
                    if (isset ($GLOBALS[$key]))
                    {
                        $GLOBALS[$prefix . $key] = $val;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        $GLOBALS[$key] = $val;
                    }
                break;
                case EXTR_PREFIX_ALL:
                    $GLOBALS[$prefix . $key] = $val;
                break;
                case EXTR_PREFIX_INVALID:
                    if (!preg_match ('#^[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff]$#', $key{0}))
                    {
                        $GLOBALS[$prefix . $key] = $val;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        $GLOBALS[$key] = $val;
                    }
                break;
                case EXTR_IF_EXISTS:
                    if (isset ($GLOBALS[$key]))
                    {
                        $GLOBALS[$key] = $val;
                    }
                break;
                case EXTR_PREFIX_IF_EXISTS:
                    if (isset ($GLOBALS[$key]))
                    {
                        $GLOBALS[$prefix . $key] = $val;
                    }
                break;
                case EXTR_REFS:
                    $GLOBALS[$key] =& $array[$key];
                break;
            }
        }
        /**
         *  The key is an array... use the function on that index
         */
        else
        {
            extract_nested ($array[$key], $type, $prefix);
        }
    }
}
?>