URL Redirect doesn't seem to be working

Question

so I'm working on this project where I need to make a referral module. I have to rewrite the URL in such a way, that the page refer_handler.php?refhash=(base64encode(email)) re-writes to /refer/(base64encode(email))

I have this code for the redirect :-

RewriteRule ^refer/(\d+)$ refer_handler.php?refhash=$1 [L,QSA]

Here's the refer_handler.php

<?php
session_start();
include 'dbconnector.php';
include 'inc/inc.functions.php';
include 'dbpdo.php';
if((isset($_SESSION['logged'])) && ($_SESSION['logged']=1))
{
    //get the email id from the header
    $emailOfTheReferrer = $_REQUEST['refhash']; // we get the refhash from here.
    echo base64_decode($emailOfTheReferrer);
    ////////////////
    //Layers -- // 
    //Check if the refer hash exists  (Check if the parent email exists)
}
else
{
    header('Location:../index');
}
?>

Problem

The URL re-writes doesn't seems to be working. When I go to /refer/somerefhash , it says :- Not Found. But, if I use the same refhash and then user the URL refer_handler.php?refhash=thehashhere Then everything seems to be working fine.

How can I fix this ?

Thank you.

Answer 1

The problem is (\\d+) only allows digits. And base64 encoded string may contain other characters.

Try this:

RewriteRule ^refer/(.+)$ refer_handler.php?refhash=$1 [L,QSA]

This captures 1 or more of any characters instead.