How to handle dynamic routes in PHP? - php

I'm creating an API via PHP. I need to let users see a particular user. For example if someone goes to mysite.com/users/2, he must get the data about the user with id=2.
This is my .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\.css$
RewriteRule ^([-/_a-zA-Z0-9\s]*)$ index.php?url=$1 [QSA,L]
The variable $url in index.php contains the whole url (for example users/2)
I use something like if($url == "users"){ //code } for routes, but what can I do with id that can be various?

Since you have everything in $url, you can just use explode()
Here's an example:
$url = "users/1234";
$url_array = explode("/", $url, 2);
echo $url_array[1];
This doesn't handle any errors, and as you stated in the comments, you'd need to implement those. So, unless this is a very small project it does seem safer, more maintanable, faster, etc. to use a framework like Laravel, or perhaps a micro-framework Lumen or Slim if you only need a few features.

You dont have to include the url in the RewriteRule:
# Redirect all requests to index.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php/$1 [L]
Then in your index.php:
$urlparts = explode("/", substr(#$_SERVER['PATH_INFO'], 1));
if($urlparts[0] == 'users'){
//find user with id $urlparts[1]
}

Related

Rewrite profile.php?user=username to profile/username

I've created a very basic php templating system that I'm using to display a page with this URL: /basedir/index.php?page=home
The home content is served by the script home.php.
With a rewrite rule in .htaccess, I want my url to look like this: /basedir/home.
The problem that I'm having is that I've got stuck when it comes to rewrite one more GET variable that I'm using to display a user's profile. For now the profile page url looks like this: /basedir/profile?user=username.
Now I want it to look like this: /basedir/profile/username.
So far, my .htaccess looks like this:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /basedir/
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !.*\.(ico|gif|jpg|jpeg|png|js|css)
RewriteRule ^([^?]*) ?page=$1 [L,QSA]
I have no idea if this is good or if i have to write a completely new .htaccess file.
Based on your code, and my limited understanding, I would guess something like this:
RewriteRule ^profile/([^?]*) ?page=profile&user=$1 [L,QSA]
.. insert it above your RewriteRule ^([^?]*) ?page=$1 [L,QSA].
As you can see at http://htaccess.mwl.be/ your url http://www.example.com/profile/username is converted into http://www.example.com/basedir/?page=profile/username
Now what you need to do is put index.php in basedir where explode the page and retrieve username.
$page = $_GET['page'];
$parts = explode('/', $page);
switch($parts[0]){
case 'profile':
if(isset($parts[1])){
$username = $parts[1];
return doWhatEverYouWantToDoWithUsername($username);
}
return handleJustProfilePage();
default:
return yourDefaultHandler();
}
This approach is called routing you can make way better with some external routing libraries.

PHP - .htaccess and GET parameters

I am trying to create a simple redirect to another page on login script.
Currently I am rewriting my URLS to the following format using .htaccess:
RewriteRule ^login$ ?i=l [L]
RewriteRule ^login([^/]*)$ ?i=l&=$1
The normal URL is therefore: domain.com/login - although I wish to be able to do the following: domain.com/login&redirect=/account/settings (Where the "redirect" will be the $_GET parameter that I'll be redirecting to after successful login)
My problem is if I access the above URL I get a 404 page not found. What am I doing wrong?
Try these rules:
RewriteRule ^login/?$ ?i=l [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^login(&[^/]+)/?$ ?i=l$1 [L,NC]
Though I suggest using:
domain.com/login?redirect=/account/settings
and get rid of 2nd rule altogether.
QSA flag in first rule will add redirect=/account/settings query parameter as $_GET to your php file.
I use a .htaccess.
It's more functional and simple. I do not know if that's what you need but the handling is very simple.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?param=$1 [L,NC]
Url Example :
domain.com/login/account/settings
The treatment is in the script PHP
$param = $_GET['param'];
echo $param;
Return
login/account/settings
Or then
$param = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
// (PHP 5 >= 5.2.0)
// $param = filter_input(INPUT_SERVER, 'RESQUEST_URI');
$param = explode('/',$param);
print_r($param);
Return
Array( [0]=> [1]=>login [2]=>account [3]=>settings)
With this method it is possible to accomplish several goals.

URL parameters with PHP

Are there ways to pass variables in a URL similarly to GET data? For example, with slashes?
I currently have a single .php file which reloads a div with different content using javascript to navigate pages, but as you can imagine, the address in the address bar stays the same.
I want users to be able to link to different pages, but that isn't possible conventionally if there is only one file being viewed.
You're probably going to want to use something along the lines of Apache's mod_rewrite functionality.
This page has a nice example http://www.dynamicdrive.com/forums/showthread.php?51923-Pretty-URLs-with-basic-mod_rewrite-and-powerful-options-in-PHP
Try using:
$_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']; // Or
$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];
If that doesn't help, post an example of what kind of URL you are trying to accomplish.
Something like this might do the trick;
place this in /yourdir/
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ yourindexfile.php?string=$1 [QSA,L]
All requests will be sent to yourindexfile.php via the URL. So http://localhost/yourdir/levelone becomes yourindexfile.php?string=levelone.
You'll be able to break down the string like so;
$query= explode('/', rtrim($_GET['string'], '/'));
the technology your looking for is .htaccess. technically this isn't possible, so you'll have to hack your mod rewrite to accomplish this.
RewriteRule On +FollowSymLinks
RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(user)/([^\.]+)$ ./index.html?tab=user&name=$2
add this to your .htaccess page in your top directory. you'll have to alter your website structure a little bit. assuming that index.html is your index. this is a backwards rewrite so if one was to go to the page with the query string it won't redirect them to the former page and if one went to the page without the query string it will work like GET data still.
you GET this data with your php file using $_GET['tab'] and $_GET['name']
I think the Symfony Routing Component is what you need ;) Usable as a standalone component it powers your routing on steroids.
I'm doing it like this (in my like framework, which is a fork of the JREAM framework):
RewriteEngine On
#When using the script within a subfolder, put this path here, like /mysubfolder/
RewriteBase /mysubfolder/
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ index.php?url=$1 [QSA,L]
Then split the different URL segments:
$url = isset($_GET['url']) ? $_GET['url'] : null;
$url = rtrim($url, '/');
$url = filter_var($url, FILTER_SANITIZE_URL);
$url_array = explode('/', $url);
Now $url_array[0] usually defines your controller, $url_array[1] defines your action, $url_array[2] is the first paramter, $url_array[3] the second one etc...

htaccess and php - redirects and pretty urls

I have a webcommunity, and it's growing now. I like to do a link makeover for my web, and then I need to know the best solution for my case.
Right now my htaccess looks kind of like this:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^([^/\.]+)/?$ index.php?page=user&username=$1 [L]
You are able to link to users like this domain.com/username and that's nice.
Then I have different pages like
index.php?page=forum&id=1
index.php?page=someotherpage&id=1&anotherid=5
index.php?page=3rd
... and so on. I want them to look something like this:
domain.com/forum/23/title-of-the-thread
domain.com/page2/id1/id2
... and so on.
How do I make these pretty urls without removing my domain.com/username functionality? What solution would you suggest?
I was thinking about creating a file that checks the URL, if it matches any pages, and users and so on. Then it will redirect with a header location.
If all of the urls you are going to rewrite are going to the same end point, you could simply use:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
in index.php:
<?php
$url = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
How you use the request uri is up to you, you could for example use a simple strpos check:
<?php
$url = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
$rules = array(
'/forum/' => 'forum',
'/foo/' => 'foo',
'/' => 'username'
);
foreach($rules as $pattern => $action) {
if (strpos($url, $pattern) === 0) {
// use action
$file = "app/$action.php";
require $file;
exit;
}
}
// error handling - 404 no route found
I was thinking about creating a file that checks the URL,
you actually have that file, it's index.php
if it matches any pages, and users and so on. Then it will redirect with a header location.
that's wrong. HTTP redirect won't make your URLs look "pretty"
you have to include appropriate file, not redirect to.
Just change your rule to more general one
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [L,QSA]
You basically have two options.
Route all URLs to a central dispatcher (FrontController) and have that PHP script anaylze the URL and include the correct scripts
Note every possible route (url rewrite) you have in the .htaccess
I've always worked with option 1, as this allows greatest flexibility with lowest mod_rewrite overhead. Option 2 may look something like:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^forum/([^/]+)/([^/]+)/?$ index.php?page=forum&id=$1 [L]
RewriteRule ^otherpage/([^/]+)/([^/]+)/?$ index.php?page=someotherpage&id=$1&anotherid=$21 [L]
RewriteRule ^page/([^/]+)/?$ index.php?page=$1 [L]
# …
RewriteRule ^([^/\.]+)/?$ index.php?page=user&username=$1 [L]
you said
I was thinking about creating a file that checks the URL, if it
matches any pages, and users and so on. Then it will redirect with a
header location.
While "creating a file that checks the URL" sounds a lot like option 1, "redirect with a header location" is the worst you could do. That would result in
an extra HTTP roundtrip for the client, leading to slower page loads
the "pretty URL" won't stick, the browser will show the URL you've redirected to
losing link-juice (SEO)
This can be done entirely with htaccess or php
//First Parameer
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)$ index.php?page=$1
RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)/$ index.php?page=$1
//Second Parameter
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)/([0-9]+)$ index.php?page=$1&username=$2
RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)/([0-9]+)/$ index.php?page=$1&username=$2
read more about it here:
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/using-htaccess-files-for-pretty-urls/
http://www.roscripts.com/Pretty_URLs_-_a_guide_to_URL_rewriting-168.html

Rewrite Url Parameters - Change http://myweb/?dept=dept&app=app to http://myweb/dept/app

I've currently got a web application that I need optimizing, and one of methods or something I'm trying to achieve is such:
http://myweb/dept/app
from
http://myweb/?dept=dept&app=app
I've currently this as the PHP code for it:
if(empty($_REQUEST['dept'])) {
$folder = "apps/";
} else {
$folder = str_replace("/", "", $_REQUEST['dept']) . "/"; }
if(empty($_REQUEST['n'])) {
include('user/home.php');
} else {
$app = $_REQUEST['n'];
if(file_exists($folder.$app.".php")) {
include($folder.$app.".php");
} else {
include("global/error/404.php");
}
}
How do I do this?
I'm currently half there with:
RewriteRule ^([A-Za-z]+)$ /index.php?app=$1
but that only rewrites part of it.
Thanks
The way many frameworks do this is with one of the following rules:
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php?q=$1
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php
In the 1st case you get the query string in $_GET["q"].
In the 2nd case you have to get the query string from $_REQUEST or something. (just do some var_dumps till you find what you need).
Then you explode("/") this and you're all set.
Have a look at how TYPO3, eZPublish, Drupal do this.
You should also add the following conditions to allow the site to open your static files (like images/css/js/etc). They tell apache to not do the rewrite if the URL points to a location that actually matches a file, directoy or symlink. (You must do this before the RewriteRule directive)
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
This should work:
RewriteRule ^([A-Za-z]+)/([A-Za-z]+)$ index.php?dept=$1&app=$2 [QSA]
You need the QSA part in order for any GET parameters to be appended to the rewritten URL.
You might find that it can be more flexible to rewrite everything to index.php, and then handle splitting up the url there, e.g.
.htaccess:
#only rewrite paths that don't exist
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php/$1
PHP:
<?php
$parts = explode('/', $_SERVER['PATH_INFO']);
$dept = isset($parts[0]) ? $parts[0] : 'someDefault';
$app = isset($parts[1]) ? $parts[1] : 'anotherDefault';

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