Is a double redirect bet for google?

[killroy]

I'm currently wondering if settign up a double redirect is the best way to maintain google listings and neat addresses while avoiding duplicate content and 404s.

Basically to move from man ugly:
/somefolder/cgi-bin/somescript.cgi/somecategory/someid
to
/somecategory/someid

I frest set a mod_rewrite fform the later to the first.
This works, well and should add the nice from to teh google index with the next crawl. But google might re-spider the old address as well causign me to show duplicate content.

So I wonder how to set up a double redirect like this:
FROM
/somefolder/cgi-bin/somescript.cgi/somecategory/someid
TO
301 permanent redirect /somecategory/someid

AND
FROM
/somecategory/someid
TO
internal redirect somefolder/cgi-bin/somescript.cgi/somecategory/someid

in mod_rewrite without infinite loops.
And woudl that have the desired effect of google expelling hte original old URLs from its index and replacign it with the new form while still makign external links fanctional?

SN

[Spannerworks]

How about putting a script in each of your pages that checks for external referrals to the page containing the string "cgi-bin"? If so, 301 redirect to the nice URL, if not, serve the page as usual.

[frogg]

I believe either of these solutions would work just fine!

hth,
fRoGG

[killroy]

The problem is the nice URL redirects back to the proper one. how do I prevent infinite recursion in the mod_rewrite?
I once downed the server for a few hours accidentally with a bad rule.

SN