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How is it websites use dashes like in this Reddit URL(https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/7onp85/what_can_you_add_to_mac_n_cheese_to_make_it_even/) rather than using $_GET statements in PHP(www.google.com?post=mac_n_cheese_to_make&vartwo=test)?

user2350459
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    Can you clarify your question with further examples? PHP is not the only server side language. Also - that example contains no dashes "-" but lots of underscores "_" that are simply placeholders for spaces in english. – Andrew M Jan 26 '18 at 09:11
  • FYI: it's the `7onp85` that tells the server what to load, the `what_can_you_add_to_mac_n_cheese_to_make_it_even/` bit can be altered without changing the content of the page. In this case the server will redirect to an unchanged version of the url. – KIKO Software Jan 26 '18 at 09:13
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    see this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/812571/how-to-create-friendly-url-in-php – Rizwan Khan Jan 26 '18 at 09:16

1 Answers1

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In PHP you can get the path used to access a resource with the $_SERVER global variable.

In your case :

PHP File: /r/AskReddit/comments/7onp85/what_can_you_add_to_mac_n_cheese_to_make_it_even/index.php

<?php
echo $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];

should return : /r/AskReddit/comments/7onp85/what_can_you_add_to_mac_n_cheese_to_make_it_even/

The only problem is that if the folders don't exist, or the file index.php doesn't exist in path /r/AskReddit/comments/7onp85/what_can_you_add_to_mac_n_cheese_to_make_it_even/ you will end up with a 404 Not Found Error.

To remedy on this, you usually tell your WebServer (Apache, Nginx, etc.) that every request has to be processed by one single script, say /index.php on document root.

For Apache, this can be done with a simple .htaccess file in the root of the web server :

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d # if the request [-d]irectory !exists
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f # or if the request [-f]ile !exists
RewriteRule . /index.php [L] # then execute /index.php

This basically tells apache to redirect every request with an invalid path to the /index.php file in the root of you webserver. Instead of ending with a 404, the /index.php script will be executed.

You can then parse the $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] variable and print different outputs depending on the path the script has been accessed with.

ClemB
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    by far it is easyer to use a PHP router which support wildcard like fastroute :) – Ngob Jan 26 '18 at 09:57
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    I think routers are easier to use when you understand the basics behind it. And you still need to rewrite nevertheless. – ClemB Jan 26 '18 at 10:14