Passing an URL as a paramter using URL rewriting (apache)

Question

I have created a .htaccess file in which I try to rewrite certain URL's. My goals is to pass an URL to another script as a parameter. It kind of works, but I end up with URL's that only contain one forward slash in the protocol part (e.g. http:/ instead of http://)

This is my .htaccess file

DirectoryIndex index.php

php_flag register_globals off
php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off
php_value display_errors 0

FileETag none
ServerSignature Off

Options All -Indexes

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteRule ^test/(.*)$ test.php?url=$1 [QSA,NC,NE,L]
</IfModule>

Now when I request the following : http://example.org/test/http://myurl.com, the php $_REQUEST object contains an url variable containing http:/myurl.com

EDIT When I request : http://example.org/test/http%3A%2F%2Fmyurl.com, the URL doesn't get rewritten at all (doesn't match the rewrite regex somehow)

I cannot seem to find the proper solution for this problem, it doesn't seem to be a problem with escape characters (since that would be a backslash)

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-17 13:49:45Z

2

Actually you shouldn't capture the URL from RewriteRule since Apache replaces all // by /.

Replace your rule with this:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On

    RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,}\s/+test/([^\s]+) [NC]
    RewriteRule ^.*$ test.php?url=%1 [QSA,NE,L]
</IfModule>

THE_REQUEST` variable represents original request received by Apache from your browser.

edited Nov 17, 2013 at 13:49

answered Nov 17, 2013 at 13:18

anubhava

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5 Comments

QNimbus Over a year ago

Thanks, you've gotten me on the right track! I had to change a few things in your answer, but you have definitely pointed me in the right direction!

QNimbus Over a year ago

Could you change the '$1' backreference to '%1' and the RewriteRule line should start with ^.*$ Then I can accept your submission as an answer.

anubhava Over a year ago

@QNimbus Sorry I meant %1 and by mistake typed $1 corrected now.

anubhava Over a year ago

About RewriteRule ^ it is same as RewriteRule ^.*$ (and probably faster since it doesn't match full URI again.

QNimbus Over a year ago

@ anubhava You're right about RewriteRule ^, I didn't know that! Thanks again!

Max · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-17 13:05:05Z

0

Your problem is that in a URL the slash is considered a directory. Resolving path//file you get path/file. That's what happens in your case.

To properly encode it, you must replace the slashes of the http://myurl.com with %2F: http:%2F%2Fmyurl.com. See percent encoding for more information.

A simpler workaround would be to ditch http:// in general.

answered Nov 17, 2013 at 13:05

Max

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1 Comment

QNimbus Over a year ago

I understand your point, however when I escape (urlencode) the url that I want to pass, the rewrite regex doesn't match anymore somehow.

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