Problem with using only hyphens in rule

[Zacharias]

I have a rule a bit like this

RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)/([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)-([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)-([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)/index.php?$ index.php?sec=$1&cat=$2&cat1=$3&cat2=$4&cat=$2

I have basically got a problem with the last part

/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)-([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)-([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)/

This rule cannot use 3 variables in the last part separated by a hyphen.

It works if I use a underscore to separate the last part, however I would rather avoid using underscores or anything other than a slash.

Is it normal to have problems doing this type of thing with rewrite rules?

[g1smd]

One piece of advise I can offer is that A-Za-z can be simplified to a-z and an [NC] tag added to the end to cater for aNyCase.

I hear that it also works faster with that.

[jdMorgan]

Use the [NC] flag:

 ^([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)/([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)-([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)-([a-zA-Z0-9_\-]+)/index.php?$ 

becomes

 ^([a-z0-9_\-]+)/([a-z0-9_\-]+)/([a-z0-9]+)-([a-z0-9_\-]+)-([a-z0-9_\-]+)/index.php?$ 

Now take the hyphens out of the two final groups:

 ^([a-z0-9_\-]+)/([a-z0-9_\-]+)/([a-z0-9]+)-([a-z0-9_]+)-([a-z0-9_]+)/index.php?$ 

See if that works any better.

The final "?" in your pattern makes the last "p" on ".php" optional. That is, the pattern will match "...index.php" or "...index.ph". Is that really what you wanted?

Jim

[Zacharias]

Just wanted to say this worked perfectly.

Thanks again JD Morgan :)