mod_rewrite replace all instances of ampersand with %26 for later

Question

I want to simply not use ampersand in my URL so I can pass ampersands further down into my system when a file is requested. The problem is Apache deals with it differently. I don't know how

I already rewrite the requested file to index.php?url=$1 so I can see what it was, but if it has an ampersand in there, it can't continue past it!

how can I escape the ampersand or turn it into it's hex equal (%26)?

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?url=$1 [QSA,L]
</IfModule>`

Answer 1

The proper way to escape ampersand in a query string modified by mod_rewrite is

%2526

if it's being handled by php.

When apache rewrites it, it's turned from %2526 to %26 which php then converts into & and stores in the query variable.

Using the B rewrite rule works too, but then all plus signs in the parameter remain plus signs in php.

The real world example that I had to face:

/group/Simon+%26+Garfunkel

With B it rewrites to

group.php?group=Simon+%26+Garfunkel

and in php you get

$group="Simon+&+Garfunkel";

when you wanted

$group="Simon & Garfunkel"

With B you need

/group/Simon%20%26%20Garfunkel

which works fine.

without B you get

group.php?group=Simon%20&%20Garfunkel

and you end up with

$group="Simon ";

because the & divides query strings.

But if you double escape

/group/Simon+%2526+Garfunkel

it rewrites to

group.php?group=Simon%20%26%20Garfunkel

and you end up with

$group="Simon & Garfunkel";

like expected.

If the url is NOT parsed by mod_rewrite into a "clean url", then we can use %26 just fine.

Answer 2

1st make sure the url's you're building have escaped the & symbol to %26 so it's not an ampersand when it gets to your server. then in your rewrite rule add the B tag so it won't convert it back to the &:

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?url=$1 [B,QSA,L]

This B tag saved my butt after 2 days of trying different rewrite rules.

Answer 3

Add

RewriteRule ^(.*)\&(.*)$ $1\%26$2

To your rewrite rules.

Answer 4

Try putting this rule above yours:

RewriteRule ^([^&]*)&(.*) $1\%26$2 [N]

Answer 5

In addition if you want to send back to the browser a redirect with the ampersand in the URL you can add the [NE] flag to the end of the RewriteRule.

RewriteRule ^/(.*) /index.php?p=yourpage_\%26_something_else [NC,NE,R=301,L]