Question

I am trying load

settings.php?id=5 

by accessing

xml/5/settings.xml

here is the code but its not working im just getting a 404 error:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^id=([0-9]+)$
RewriteRule ^([a-z_]+)\.php$ /%1/$1.xml [L]

Answer 1

If you want your end user to enter xml/5/settings.xml, you have your rewrite backwards. On the left input side, you need to match the input URI:

This assumes settings is a dynamic value, which is captured in $2

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^xml/([\d]+)/([a-z]+)\.xml$ $2.php?id=$1

If settings is a static value, hard code it:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^xml/([\d]+)/settings.xml$ settings.php?id=$1