Apache 2.2 mod_rewrite question

[Paolo Cera]

Anyone know of the proper syntax that captures this metaphor?

Given a Cookie and URI, I would like to check for the existence of a substring in the cookie in the URI and then proceed to a rewrite rule accordingly.

Here's an example of my reasoning

RewriteEngine on

...


RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE},%{REQUEST_URI} .*xXx(.+)xXx.*,.*$1.*
RewriteRule blah,blah,blah

I would suspect something likes this is syntactically correct, but repeated testing proves me wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Paolo Cera]

Got the answer to this. Turns out that I'm trying to do something called a local backreference, and the solution is only portable to POSIX 1003.2+ compliant OSes. More on it can be found here.

Note, the bind name /N$ (where 0 < N < 9) did not work for me, but \N did.

Anyways, hope this doesn't trip up anyone else in the future.

 

[quicknote]

The syntax you have provided for the mod_rewrite rule is close, but it may not capture the intended metaphor accurately. In order to check for the existence of a substring in the cookie and URI, you would need to use the %{HTTP_COOKIE} and %{REQUEST_URI} variables in the RewriteCond statement. These variables represent the cookie and URI strings, respectively. You can then use regular expressions to search for the desired substring within these variables. For example, your RewriteCond statement could be written as:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} .*xXx(.+)xXx.*
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .*%1.*
RewriteRule blah,blah,blah

In this case, the first RewriteCond statement checks for the existence of the substring "xXx(.+)xXx" within the cookie. The parentheses capture the substring and save it as %1. The second RewriteCond statement then checks for the existence of the captured substring (%1) within the URI. If both conditions are met, the RewriteRule will be applied accordingly.

It's important to note that regular expressions can be tricky and require thorough testing to ensure they are capturing the desired substring accurately. Additionally, the syntax may vary depending on the server and version of Apache being used. I would suggest consulting the Apache documentation or seeking assistance from a developer experienced in mod_rewrite to fine-tune your syntax and ensure it accurately captures the metaphor you are trying to convey.