Update Apr 2009: Thanks to Alistair Brookbanks at CubeCart for looking and updating the rewrite.script – updated script below.  They are looking to make next major release of CC more Zeus compatible .

I think the pain and misery of Zeus is now behind me and I sat and converted the CubeCart .htaccess into a Zeus rewrite.script in ten minutes.  Previously, it would have involved a minor breakdown and tears.  Anyhow, here it is and I hope you find it useful:

NB: this is for an install into a subfolder of /shop/, just edit the ‘Root Relative Path’ as required

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RULE_0_START:
 
## Written by James www.realisingdesigns.com
## Thanks to Alistair @ CubeCart for the updated script
 
RULE_0_START:
## set original URL
set SCRATCH:ORIGINAL_URL = %{URL}
## Set Root Relative Path set SCRATCH:ROOT_REL = /shop/
## check for query string and set accordingly
match URL into $ with ^(.*)\?(.*)$
if matched then
 set SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING = $2
endif
RULE_0_END:
 
RULE_1_START:
## check for Category e.g. /my-category/cat_3.html
match URL into $ with /cat_([0-9]*)\.html
if matched then
    set SCRATCH:INV_ID = $1
    set URL = %{SCRATCH:ROOT_REL}index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=%{SCRATCH:INV_ID}
    goto RULE_2_START
endif
## check for Product e.g. /my-category/my-product/prod_3.html
match URL into $ with /prod_([0-9]*)\.html
if matched then
    set SCRATCH:INV_ID = $1
    set URL = %{SCRATCH:ROOT_REL}index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=%{SCRATCH:INV_ID}
    goto RULE_2_START
endif
## check for Document e.g. /my-page/info_3.html
match URL into $ with /info_([0-9]*)\.html
if matched then
    set SCRATCH:INV_ID = $1
    set URL = %{SCRATCH:ROOT_REL}index.php?_a=viewDoc&docId=%{SCRATCH:INV_ID}
    goto RULE_2_START
endif
## check for tell-a-friend e.g. /tellafriend/tell_3.html
match URL into $ with /tell_([0-9]*)\.html
if matched then
    set SCRATCH:INV_ID = $1
    set URL = %{SCRATCH:ROOT_REL}index.php?_a=tellafriend&productId=%{SCRATCH:INV_ID}
    goto RULE_2_START
endif
## Check for Sale Items Category e.g. /saleitems/cat_saleItems.html
match URL into $ with /saleitems/cat_saleItems.html
if matched then
    set URL = %{SCRATCH:ROOT_REL}index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=saleItems
    goto RULE_2_START
endif
RULE_1_END:
 
RULE_2_START:
## Check for Query String and append if required
match SCRATCH:ORIGINAL_URL into % with \?(.*)$
if matched then
 set URL = %{URL}&%{SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING}
endif
goto END
RULE_2_END:

If you are unfamiliar with Zeus and your site is hosted on it, you need to save the file as “rewrite.script” and upload it to your website root.  Any problems, then just leave a comment below.

Here’s a little example of code which can help you work out what’s going wrong with your Zeus webserver redirects.  With the ‘SET BODY’ command you can place a message in the body content of the page and can output various variable and array content.

The following needs to be in a rewrite.script on your site root:

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RULE_0_START:
 
map path into SCRATCH:DOCROOT from /
set SCRATCH:ORIG_URL = %{URL}
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = %{URL}
 
#Check for Querystring and add to Scratch
match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into $ with ^/(.*)\?(.*)$
if matched then
	set SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING = $2
	set BODY=QUERY: %{SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING}
endif
 
RULE_0_END:

The above will test for a request matching all characters and ending with a query and will output “QUERY: YOUR QUERY”. Once you have the write set-up, you can then add the # symbol to turn it into notation and apply any rules.

Here are some useful Zeus web server links from their website (zeus.com):

• User Guide (Pdf)
• Examples and how-to’s
  

Anyone on a Zeus web server will know that anything ‘Htaccess related’ is going to cause you a headache.  After scouring the WordPress MU (or Multi-user) forums, I found lots of answered threads on exactly that.  With some blood, sweat and tears I now have a working rewrite.script that does take care of most elements required.

My install of WordPress MU opted for the sub-folder option as it more closely resembles the working Rewrite.script for a standard WordPress install.  Whilst the sub-domain route may be possible, this post is only looking a sub-folder install.

Below are some of the main points of the rewrite file:

• Rewrite the location of uploaded files /files/filename to /wp-content/blogs.php?file=filename
• Rewrite the “WP special files” on sub folder blogs e.g. /blog1/wp-login.php to /wp-login.php
• Rewite the “WP special folders and their files” on sub folder blogs e.g. /blog1/wp-content/ to /wp-content/, which will fix the style sheets not appearing on the sub folder blogs
• Rewrite the Permalink structure for all blog content (master and sub folder blogs) e.g. /blog/2009/03/15/hello-world/ to /index.php?q=/blog/2009/03/15/hello-world/

There is also a mention of Plugins in the Apache .htaccess, but I am yet to include this in.  Although getting the above to work was tricky and the web void of much help, I do feel that the pieces have fit together in my head (finally!).   I am more than happy to share my draft working rewrite.script, so please leave a comment.

I have since been looking at the rewrite for WordPress and also to use in my own custom built sites for search engine friendly URL’s. Again I found very little on the web, but currently have a working model. The rewrite script passes the URL into a variable ‘q’. So to get it out again I simply passed ‘q’ into an array with the following PHP:

When I have more time, I intend to have a deeper look at WordPress and how they do things. But for now, here is the rewrite code:

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RULE_0_START:
# get the document root
map path into SCRATCH:DOCROOT from /
# initialize our variables
set SCRATCH:ORIG_URL = %{URL}
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = %{URL}
# see if theres any queries in our URL
match URL into $ with ^(.*)\?(.*)$
if matched then
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = $1
set SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING = $2
endif
RULE_0_END:
 
RULE_1_START:
# prepare to search for file, rewrite if its not found
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME = %{SCRATCH:DOCROOT}
set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME . %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}
# check to see if the file requested is an actual file or
# a directory with possibly an index. don’t rewrite if so
look for file at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
if not exists then
look for dir at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
if not exists then
set URL = /index.php?q=%{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}
goto QSA_RULE_START
endif
endif
# if we made it here then its a file or dir and no rewrite
goto END
RULE_1_END:
 
QSA_RULE_START:
# append the query string if there was one originally
# the same as [QSA,L] for apache
match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with \?(.*)$
if matched then
set URL = %{URL}&%{SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING}
endif
goto END
QSA_RULE_END:

I have just been on a long and winding journey of web pages with Zeus codes that just didn’t work for me. At least for now I am at the end and have a working rewrite.script that redirects all non-www pages to their www counterparts. To apply the following:

1. Copy and paste the code shown below into a file named rewrite.script
2. Replace example.co.uk with your own site
3. Upload to the root directory of your site
4. Try out the redirect yourself in a browser
5. User a HTML Server Response checker to make sure all is ok

Below is the code, which should not be changed with the exception of the domain name and be sure to escape the . with a \ in line 2 e.g. example\.com, example\.co\.uk:

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RULE_0_START:
match IN:Host into $ with ^example\.co\.uk$
if matched then
match URL into $ with ^/(.*)$
    set OUT:Location = http://www.example.co.uk/$1
    set OUT:Content-Type = text/html
    set RESPONSE = 301
    set BODY = Moved
goto END
endif
RULE_0_END:

If you find this code useful or even find it doesn’t work for you, then please let me know. You can now combine this with our free HTTP Server Response tool to check your 301 Redirect is working as it should.