mod_rewrite variable always == 'index.php'

Question

I have the following file structure:

/framework
    /.htaccess
    /index.php

and the following rules in my .htaccess file:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>

  RewriteEngine on
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L]

</IfModule>

When I navigate to http://localhost/framework/example I would expect the query string to equal 'framework/example' but instead it equals 'index.php'. Why? And how do I get the variable to equal when I'm expecting it to?

Jon Lin · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-01 22:33:47Z

3

Your rewrite rules are looping. Mod_rewrite won't stop rewriting until the URI (without the query string) is the same before and after it goes through the rules. When you originally request http://localhost/framework/example this is what happens:

Rewrite engine takes /framework/example and strips the leading "/"
framework/example is put through the rules
framework/example gets rewritten to index.php?q=framework/example
Rerite engine compares the before and after, framework/example != index.php
index.php?q=framework/example goes back through the rewrite rules
index.php gets rewritten to index.php?q=index.php
Rewrite engine compares the before and after, index.php == index.php
Rewrite engine stops, the resulting URI is index.php?q=index.php

You need to add a condition so that it won't rewrite the same URI twice:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/index\.php
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?q=$1 [L]

edited Dec 1, 2011 at 22:33

answered Dec 1, 2011 at 22:28

Jon Lin

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4 Comments

Peter Horne Over a year ago

I've just tried adding that rule and the result is still the same.

Peter Horne Over a year ago

Changing the RewriteCond regex to: !index\.php gets the desired result but then /framework/testing/index.php won't redirect (for obvious reasons)

zerkms Over a year ago

@Peter Horne: use RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f then. It is suitable in most cases

Peter Horne Over a year ago

That's an improvement but I've just realised RewriteCond $1 !^index\.php solves the problem perfectly. Thanks for your help!

zerkms · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-01 22:27:30Z

3

Because you've rewritten the url with RewriteRule and have already put the previous path to the q. So just use $_GET['q']

answered Dec 1, 2011 at 22:27

zerkms

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3 Comments

Peter Horne Over a year ago

I don't understand what you mean, could you expand on this please? There is no query string in the original request, so without the rules I've added then $_GET['q'] would be empty.

zerkms Over a year ago

@Peter Horne: what can't you understand exactly? The original request is in GET's q variable, and to avoid infinity rewriting loop - follow the Jon Lin answer (which is correct and should work)

Peter Horne Over a year ago

I misunderstood and thought you were talking about the incoming request (before it reaches my server) having ?q= already set! Thanks for your help.

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