This tutorial will teach you how to use specific RegEx characters specific to .htaccess files.<\/p>\n
Before going further, RegEx is short for a regular expression – it is defined as a specific string of text used to describe a search pattern. It helps to match, locate, and manage text.<\/p>\n
The following table showcases different regex characters that are specific to .htaccess files.<\/p>\n\n
| Character<\/th> | What does it do?<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|
| #<\/td> | Forces the server to ignore the text following the # on the same line. Typically used for comments<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [F]<\/td> | Indicates Forbidden, with this the server should return a 403 forbidden error to the client<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [L]<\/td> | The Last rule forces the server to stop processing rules in the .htaccess file<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [N]<\/td> | Indicates Next and forces Apache to redo the rewrite process, except using the currently rewritten URL instead of the initial URL<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [G]<\/td> | Gone tells the server to deliever the gone status message, which is used to mark pages that no longer exist on the site.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [R]<\/td> | This forces Apache to initialize a redirect, this can be a permanent redirect (page has moved, 301), or a temporary redirect (302).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [P]<\/td> | Indicates Proxy which tells the server to use mod_proxy to handle requests<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [C]<\/td> | Tells the server to chain a rule with the next rule. If the rule matches for example, then the chained rules will run as well, if not, then they will not run.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [QSA]<\/td> | Tells the server to use the query string at the end of an expression<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [NC]<\/td> | No Case instructs the server to treat any argument as case insensitive<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [NS]<\/td> | The No Subrequest forces the server to skip if it is an internal sub request<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [PT]<\/td> | Pass Through has mod_rewrite send a formatted URL back to Apache<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [NE]<\/td> | No Escape forces the server to parse through all output ignoring escaping characters, meaning spaces in the URL will not be replaced with %20 for example<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [OR]<\/td> | Specifies a logical \u2018OR\u2018 statement that evaluates two expressions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [S=x]<\/td> | Forces the server to skip \u201cx\u201d number of rules based on if a match is found, not the same as the Chain flag [C]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [a-z]<\/td> | Denotes a range of characters between the two characters separated by a dash<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [^]<\/td> | Defines not within a character class, or the Start of a string of characters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| []+<\/td> | Defines that any combination characters defined within the brackets is a match there can be multiple matches<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| []<\/td> | Defines that any characters defined within the brackets is a match<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [T=MIME-type]<\/td> | Defines the mime type, forces the target file to be that mime type<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| [E=variableName:newValue]<\/td> | Forces the server to set the environmental variable \u201cvariableName\u201d to the value \u201cnewValue\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| a{n}<\/td> | Defines the specific number of the preceding character to be matched<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| ?<\/td> | Defines the preceding character as being optional<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| $<\/td> | Signals the end of a regular expression<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| ()<\/td> | Can be used to group characters together<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| ^<\/td> | Signals the beginning of a regular expression<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| .<\/td> | Specifies a single arbitrary character<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| \u2013<\/td> | Signals not to perform an action<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| !<\/td> | Defines negation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| +<\/td> | Will match at least one preceding character<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| |<\/td> | Logical \u2018OR\u2018 operator<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| *<\/td> | Wildcard that will match any occurrence of the preceding character<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| .<\/td> | Signals an escaped literal period<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| -d<\/td> | Analyzes if a string exists within a directory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| -f<\/td> | Determines if a string is a preexisting file<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| -s<\/td> | Tests for a non zero value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n |