RewriteCond questions (.htaccess)

> 1) How can I add trailing slash in all cases unless a file extension is shown (or is it better to strip trailing slashes always?)

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/.+/$
RewriteRule !^.+\.[a-z]{2,4}$ - [C]
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /$1/ [R=301,L]

> but then the rewritecond is reinvoked and it goes into a loop..
It might only loop with the other rule, if you're using &do insread of &to (/$1/index.php?area=$1&from=$2&to=$3), because otherwise the QUERY_STRING-Condition won't match. You should erease the query string in the substitution by adding a '?':

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} from=(.+)&do=(.+)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.mysite.com/$1/from/%1/to/%2? [R=301,L]

Sorry that was a typo:  it should be
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} from=(.+)&to=(.+)

so now I have

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} from=(.)&to=(.)
RewriteRule ^(.*) http://www.mysite.com/$1/from/%1/to/%2? [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^(.+)/from/(.+)/to/(.+)$ /$1/index.php?area=$1&from=$2&to=$3 [L,QSA]

Same problem - (loops over and over again)

So even after a URL gets internally rewritten (like on line 3 above) it gets sent back *again* to mod_rewrite?  That's the only way I can see this happening

> Sorry that was a typo:

in this case, you've to use

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} from=(.+)&do=(.+)\ HTTP
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.mysite.com/$1/from/%1/to/%2? [R=301,L]

instead.

> So even after a URL gets internally rewritten (like on line 3 above) it gets sent back *again* to mod_rewrite?

yes, this is the processing in .htaccess files. your URL /$1/index.php?area=$1&from=$2&to=$3 is reinjected into the processing again. Otherwise apache cannot check, if other Directives would apply to the new URL (i.e. some other RewriteRules)

Awesome!  Almost perfect - the only little thing now is that I end up with an extra /
http://domain.com/dining//from/A/to/B
                                     ^

Also I've increased the points in the hopes you'll answer this question (but if you don't that's ok, the question is yours anyway)
I'm still a little hazy on how RewriteConds get applied - for a rewriterule to take effect does it have to match *all* the rewriteconds above it, only if a rewritecond is immediately above it, or just the most recent rewritecond...?

# all go to www.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domin.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.mysite.com/$1 [R=301,L] # only rewrites if above rewritecond is true

# if not slash and not extension, add slash
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/.+/$
RewriteRule !^.+\.[a-z]{2,4}$ - [C]
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /$1/ [R=301,L] # only adds slash if above rewritecond is true

RewriteRule ^(.+)/sub/(.+)/$ /$1/index.php?area=$1&sub=$2 [L,QSA] #rewrites if match and disregards rewritecond above


This is a really simple question I just don't know how to phrase it :(  - do rewriteconds affect rewriterules far below them or only the immediate following rule or...

>  Awesome!  Almost perfect - the only little thing now is that I end up with an extra /

This might result from the fact, that you're filepath es empty (http://mydomain.com?area=aaa&from=bbb&to=ccc). Do you've any URLs like
http://mydomain.com/AnythingHereBeforeQueryString?area=aaa&from=bbb&to=ccc ? I removed the part from the RewriteRule (RewriteRule ^$ http://www.mysite.com/from/%1/to/%2? [R=301,L])

> I'm still a little hazy on how RewriteConds get applied

The processing is as follows:
Pattern RewriteRule
1st condition
2nd condition
... condition
(if everything [yes, all conditions above this Rule] is true:) substitution RewriteRule


RewriteCond a
RewriteRule a
RewriteRule b
as a result of the processing order, RewriteCond a can only apply to RewriteRule a and never to RewriteRule b. Buf if RewriteRule a is chained with RewriteRule b ([C]-Flag), RewriteRule b will only be executed, if RewriteRule a (=Pattern of Rule a and RewriteCond b) did match.

The reason why I used this and *not* this:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI}  !^/.+\.[a-z]{2,4}$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/.+/$
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /$1/ [R=301,L]
is the processing: The RegEx .+ would match every request first and only in a 2nd step the URL is tested, if there's an extension (with the condition). This rule is slower, because every request would match at least the pattern of the rewriteRule.


# all go to www.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domin.com
 # only rewrites if above rewritecond is true
RewriteRule ^(.*) http://www.mysite.com/$1 [R=301,L]

# the processing here is more complex:
# RewriteRule: no extension (if true ->)
# RewriteCond: no trailing slash (if true ->)
# RewriteRule: no substitution (-) ->
# RewriteRule: Flags - Chain with next Rule
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/.+/$
RewriteRule !^.+\.[a-z]{2,4}$ - [C]

# only if the ruleset above did mach (chained rules)
# RewriteRule: (.+) maches to every request with 1 to n chars
# RewriteRule: substitution
# RewriteRule: Flags -- force external redirection with statuscode 301 and last rule
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /$1/ [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} from=(.+)&do=(.+)\ HTTP
# Rule will only match on domain.com?queryString, removed here $1
RewriteRule ^$ http://www.mysite.com/from/%1/to/%2? [R=301,L]

#rewrites if match and disregards rewritecond above
RewriteRule ^(.+)/sub/(.+)/$ /$1/index.php?area=$1&sub=$2 [L,QSA]

some typo:
as a result of the processing order, RewriteCond a can only apply to RewriteRule a and never to RewriteRule b. Buf if RewriteRule a is chained with RewriteRule b ([C]-Flag), RewriteRule b will only be executed, if RewriteRule a (=Pattern of Rule a and RewriteCond b) did match.

should be (RewriteCond a)

as a result of the processing order, RewriteCond a can only apply to RewriteRule a and never to RewriteRule b. Buf if RewriteRule a is chained with RewriteRule b ([C]-Flag), RewriteRule b will only be executed, if RewriteRule a (=Pattern of Rule a and RewriteCond a) did match.

I know I'm utterly dense - but just to totally clarify

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} from=(.+)&do=(.+)\ HTTP                            <--  line X
# Rule will only match on domain.com?queryString, removed here $1
RewriteRule ^$ http://www.mysite.com/from/%1/to/%2? [R=301,L]

#rewrites if match and disregards rewritecond above
RewriteRule ^(.+)/sub/(.+)/$ /$1/index.php?area=$1&sub=$2 [L,QSA]      <-- my question, line Y

the reason line Y disregards the rewritecond at line X is becuase its seperated from that rewritecond by another rewriterule that doesn't have [c]?

Thanks for your patience caterham_www