URL rewriting and Javascript HTTP requests

Question

After turning URL rewriting on and I've encountered one problem around Javascript HTTP requests.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^([^\.]+)$ $1.php [NC,L]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} \ /(.+)\.php(\?|\ |$)
RewriteRule ^ /%1 [L,R=301]

xmlhttp.open("POST", "php/msg_send.php", true); POST method simply didn't work but xmlhttp.open("GET", "php/language_check.php?lang="+langSelect, true);GET method continued working well as before.

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
RewriteRule ^ - [L]

After adding this code in my .htaccess file POST method started working well.

I'm little confused because GET method worked fine after turning url rewriting on, but POST method did not. Is it true that xmlhttp GET can work well without adding some lines in .htaccess file but POST method can't? I would like someone to explain why is GET method working after url rewriting (deleting .php extension) but POST method doesn't.

Thanks in advance.

Jon Lin · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-24 14:56:31Z

1

The reason is because you are redirecting R=301 and when you redirect a POST request, the request body, where the POST data resides, isn't guaranteed to be sent along with the redirect. If you are sending the POST using javascript, and the browser's URL location bar doesn't change, then you don't need to rewrite any POST requests at all (since I'm guessing the goal of your rules is to remove the "php" extension from your URLs).

You can clean up your rules by adding a few more things:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/$1.php -f
RewriteRule ^([^\.]+)$ $1.php [NC,L]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !POST
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} \ /(.+)\.php(\?|\ |$)
RewriteRule ^ /%1 [L,R=301]

answered Sep 24, 2014 at 14:56

Jon Lin

144k29 gold badges226 silver badges224 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Jon Lin Over a year ago

@kizzwiz in a GET request, data is part of the actual URL in the form of a query string (e.g. the ?param=value&param2=value2 stuff), but in a POST request, those parameters are encoded as part of the body of the request (not seen in the URL). See: stackoverflow.com/questions/14551194/…

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-24 14:58:11Z

1

Here is what happens to a POST request:

Browser sends a POST request to server to URL: http://domain.com/php/msg_send.php
Server does a 301 redirect to http://domain.com/php/msg_send
POST data is discarded on redirect as client will perform a GET request to the URL http://domain.com/php/msg_send received by the 301.

answered Sep 24, 2014 at 14:58

anubhava

790k67 gold badges603 silver badges671 bronze badges

2 Comments

lbartolic Over a year ago

thanks, but why is then GET method working even server does a 301 redirect from php/language_check.php?lang= to php/language_check/?lang=?

anubhava Over a year ago

GET request works since all the parameters are part of URL itself.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

URL rewriting and Javascript HTTP requests

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

2 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related