Rewrite directive inside <VirtualHost>

it doesn't work without the [R] flag. why?

[Finder]

RewriteRule /foo.html /?section=foo [L]

That rule works fine if it's declared globally and there are no virtual hosts. As soon as I create a virtual host, I have to use the [R] flag or it won't work (I just get a 404).

I like it without the flag because then the real URL is hidden from users.

For example, the above would display as:
www.mydomain.com/foo.html

But with the [R] flag it shows up as:
www.mydomain.com/?section=foo

Kind of defeats the purpose of using rewrite... Any help on this?

[msr986]

I am confused by what you are trying to do.

I don't think you have a file on your server named '/?section=foo', so the 404 is correct.

What is the pathname of the file you want to send to the user?

[Finder]

My site is PHP-enabled, so /?section=foo resolves to a standard html page.