mod_rewrite - need help with friendly URL

Question

How would you mod_rewrite a url to go from

directory.php?id=4 to directory/category/city/name/4/

I took a stab in the dark with

RewriteRule ^directory/*/*/*/([^/\.]+)/?$ directory.php?&id=$4

But not working obviously. Any help is greatly appreciated

Answer 1

How about:

RewriteRule ^directory\.php/.*/.*/.*/(.*)/$ directory.php?id=$1

The parentheses do the capture, and since you are only doing one capture, then the can use '$1' in the target.

Edit: I'm assuming that you want the URL without the query string to redirect to the one with the query string (not 100% clear in your question, sounds like it is the other way around)