Stopping mod_rewrite rule match, circular execution

Question

I have old.htm and new.htm on a directory, and I need to load file.php every time someone access old.htm, and load old.htm every time some access new.htm.

Here are my non-working rules:

RewriteRule ^old\.htm$ file.php?%{REQUEST_URI} [L]
RewriteRule ^new\.htm$ old.htm [L]

When old.htm is accessed, file.php is called. When new.htm is accessed, old.htm is "accessed" again, rewriting it to file.php. So, in the end, accessing new.php loads file.php, but I want to stop at old.htm.

Any ideas?

Here's RewriteLogLevel 3 output if it helps:

old.htm

[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/old.htm -> old.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^old\.htm$' to uri 'old.htm'
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (2) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] rewrite old.htm -> file.php?/arquivoweb/old.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) split uri=file.php?/arquivoweb/old.htm -> uri=file.php, args=/arquivoweb/old.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] add per-dir prefix: file.php -> D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (2) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip document_root prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php -> /arquivoweb/file.php
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (1) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] internal redirect with /arquivoweb/file.php [INTERNAL REDIRECT]
[rid#200fb20/initial/redir#1] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php -> file.php
[rid#200fb20/initial/redir#1] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^old\.htm$' to uri 'file.php'
[rid#200fb20/initial/redir#1] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php -> file.php
[rid#200fb20/initial/redir#1] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^new\.htm$' to uri 'file.php'
[rid#200fb20/initial/redir#1] (1) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] pass through D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php

new.htm

[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/new.htm -> new.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^old\.htm$' to uri 'new.htm'
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/new.htm -> new.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^new\.htm$' to uri 'new.htm'
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (2) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] rewrite new.htm -> old.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] add per-dir prefix: old.htm -> D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/old.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (2) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip document_root prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/old.htm -> /arquivoweb/old.htm
[rid#2006ee0/initial] (1) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] internal redirect with /arquivoweb/old.htm [INTERNAL REDIRECT]
[rid#200fa90/initial/redir#1] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/old.htm -> old.htm
[rid#200fa90/initial/redir#1] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^old\.htm$' to uri 'old.htm'
[rid#200fa90/initial/redir#1] (2) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] rewrite old.htm -> file.php?/arquivoweb/old.htm
[rid#200fa90/initial/redir#1] (3) split uri=file.php?/arquivoweb/old.htm -> uri=file.php, args=/arquivoweb/old.htm
[rid#200fa90/initial/redir#1] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] add per-dir prefix: file.php -> D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php
[rid#200fa90/initial/redir#1] (2) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip document_root prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php -> /arquivoweb/file.php
[rid#200fa90/initial/redir#1] (1) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] internal redirect with /arquivoweb/file.php [INTERNAL REDIRECT]
[rid#20e6c70/initial/redir#2] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php -> file.php
[rid#20e6c70/initial/redir#2] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^old\.htm$' to uri 'file.php'
[rid#20e6c70/initial/redir#2] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] strip per-dir prefix: D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php -> file.php
[rid#20e6c70/initial/redir#2] (3) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] applying pattern '^new\.htm$' to uri 'file.php'
[rid#20e6c70/initial/redir#2] (1) [per-dir D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/] pass through D:/dev/www/estadao/arquivoweb/file.php

Answer 1

Try to additionally check the original requested URL instead of just the current URL:

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^GET\ /old\.html
RewriteRule ^old\.htm$ file.php?%{REQUEST_URI} [L]
RewriteRule ^new\.htm$ old.htm [L]

Answer 2

Not sure what's gonna happen with new.htm since the log seems only to cover the case of old.htm. But, try adding the NS flag to the old.htm rewrite rule to prevent it firing on the subrequest after the PHP script has been introduced.