mod_rewrite dynamic flat links, wildcard directory - php

Question

I am trying to build an online store using dynamic php pages. Currently, .htaccess works with the following:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^online_store/category/(.*)$ category?uri=$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?action=$1 [QSA,L]
My index.php is just built with a bunch of includes, so a flat link to browse a category would be:
domain.com/online_store/category/apparel
Index.php is including online_store.htm, which processes the URI properly.
What I'm trying to accomplish next is to add a rule for product URIs, which would tell index.php to include product.htm to process the given URI:
domain.com/online_store/category/apparel/t-shirt1
I thought it would be as easy as adding:
RewriteRule ^online_store/category/(.*)/(.*)$ product?uri=$2 [QSA,L]
But it doesn't work. Even my uneducated mind tells me that the previous rewrite rule for categories preempts this one since L is included - but when I remove it neither work. Can someone educate me on the proper way to process this? Logically, I need this to happen:
domain.com/online_store/category/(URI1)/(URI2)
rewrite domain.com/category?uri=(URI1)
rewrite domain.com/product?uri=(URI2)
Final Edit - I decided to scrap the idea of nesting the product within the respective category, turns out I had issues with the way I was getting the URI using my php script. Here's the .htaccess that is working for me:
RewriteRule ^online_store/category/([^/]+)$ /category?uri=$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^online_store/product/([^/]+)$ /product?uri=$1 [QSA,L]

Answer 1

You should do:
RewriteRule ^online_store/category/[^/]+/(.*)$ category?uri=$1 [QSA,L]
it has to do with greedy repetition. Basically, the dot matches any character, including the slash(/)