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<title>Using RewriteMap - Apache HTTP Server</title>
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<p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2</p>
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<a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">HTTP Server</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/">Documentation</a> > <a href="../">Version 2.2</a> > <a href="./">Rewrite</a></div><div id="page-content"><div id="preamble"><h1>Using RewriteMap</h1>
<div class="toplang">
<p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/rewrite/rewritemap.html" title="English"> en </a></p>
</div>
<p>This document supplements the <code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html">mod_rewrite</a></code>
<a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html">reference documentation</a>. It describes
the use of the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritemap">RewriteMap</a></code> directive,
and provides examples of each of the various <code>RewriteMap</code> types.</p>
<div class="warning">Note that many of these examples won't work unchanged in your
particular server configuration, so it's important that you understand
them, rather than merely cutting and pasting the examples into your
configuration.</div>
</div>
<div id="quickview"><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#txt">txt: Plain text maps</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#rnd">rnd: Randomized Plain Text</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#dbm">dbm: DBM Hash File</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#int">int: Internal Function</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#prg">prg: External Rewriting Program</a></li>
<li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#summary">Summary</a></li>
</ul><h3>See also</h3><ul class="seealso"><li><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html">Module documentation</a></li><li><a href="intro.html">mod_rewrite introduction</a></li><li><a href="remapping.html">Redirection and remapping</a></li><li><a href="access.html">Controlling access</a></li><li><a href="vhosts.html">Virtual hosts</a></li><li><a href="proxy.html">Proxying</a></li><li><a href="advanced.html">Advanced techniques and tricks</a></li><li><a href="avoid.html">When not to use mod_rewrite</a></li></ul></div>
<div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="introduction" id="introduction">Introduction</a></h2>
<p>
The <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritemap">RewriteMap</a></code> directive
defines an external function which can be called in the context of
<code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule">RewriteRule</a></code> or
<code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritecond">RewriteCond</a></code> directives to
perform rewriting that is too complicated, or too specialized to be
performed just by regular expressions. The source of this lookup can
be any of the types listed in the sections below, and enumerated in
the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritemap">RewriteMap</a></code> reference
documentation.</p>
<p>The syntax of the <code>RewriteMap</code> directive is as
follows:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
RewriteMap <em>MapName</em> <em>MapType</em>:<em>MapSource</em>
</code></p></div>
<p>The <a id="mapfunc" name="mapfunc"><em>MapName</em></a> is an
arbitray name that you assign to the map, and which you will use in
directives later on. Arguments are passed to the map via the
following syntax:</p>
<p class="indent">
<strong>
<code>${</code> <em>MapName</em> <code>:</code> <em>LookupKey</em>
<code>}</code> <br /> <code>${</code> <em>MapName</em> <code>:</code>
<em>LookupKey</em> <code>|</code> <em>DefaultValue</em> <code>}</code>
</strong>
</p>
<p>When such a construct occurs, the map <em>MapName</em> is
consulted and the key <em>LookupKey</em> is looked-up. If the
key is found, the map-function construct is substituted by
<em>SubstValue</em>. If the key is not found then it is
substituted by <em>DefaultValue</em> or by the empty string
if no <em>DefaultValue</em> was specified.</p>
<p>For example, you might define a
<code class="directive">RewriteMap</code> as:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
RewriteMap examplemap txt:/path/to/file/map.txt
</code></p></div>
<p>You would then be able to use this map in a
<code class="directive">RewriteRule</code> as follows:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
RewriteRule ^/ex/(.*) ${examplemap:$1}
</code></p></div>
<p>A default value can be specified in the event that nothing is found
in the map:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
RewriteRule ^/ex/(.*) ${examplemap:$1|/not_found.html}
</code></p></div>
<div class="note"><h3>Per-directory and .htaccess context</h3>
<p>
The <code>RewriteMap</code> directive may not be used in
<Directory> sections or <code>.htaccess</code> files. You must
declare the map in server or virtualhost context. You may use the map,
once created, in your <code>RewriteRule</code> and
<code>RewriteCond</code> directives in those scopes. You just can't
<strong>declare</strong> it in those scopes.
</p>
</div>
<p>The sections that follow describe the various <em>MapType</em>s that
may be used, and give examples of each.</p>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="txt" id="txt">txt: Plain text maps</a></h2>
<p>When a MapType of <code>txt</code> is used, the MapSource is a filesystem path to a
plain-text mapping file, containing space-separated key/value pair
per line. Optionally, a line may be contain a comment, starting with
a '#' character.</p>
<p>For example, the following might be valid entries in a map
file.</p>
<p class="indent">
# Comment line<br />
<strong><em>MatchingKey</em> <em>SubstValue</em></strong><br />
<strong><em>MatchingKey</em> <em>SubstValue</em></strong> # comment<br />
</p>
<p>When the RewriteMap is invoked the argument is looked for in the
first argument of a line, and, if found, the substitution value is
returned.</p>
<p>For example, we might use a mapfile to translate product names to
product IDs for easier-to-remember URLs, using the following
recipe:</p>
<div class="example"><h3>Product to ID configuration</h3><p><code>
RewriteMap product2id txt:/etc/apache2/productmap.txt<br />
RewriteRule ^/product/(.*) /prods.php?id=${product2id:$1|NOTFOUND} [PT]
</code></p></div>
<p>We assume here that the <code>prods.php</code> script knows what
to do when it received an argument of <code>id=NOTFOUND</code> when
a product is not found in the lookup map.</p>
<p>The file <code>/etc/apache2/productmap.txt</code> then contains
the following:</p>
<div class="example"><h3>Product to ID map</h3><p><code>
##<br />
## productmap.txt - Product to ID map file<br />
##<br />
<br />
television 993<br />
stereo 198<br />
fishingrod 043<br />
basketball 418<br />
telephone 328
</code></p></div>
<p>Thus, when <code>http://example.com/product/television</code> is
requested, the <code>RewriteRule</code> is applied, and the request
is internally mapped to <code>/prods.php?id=993</code>.</p>
<div class="note"><h3>Note: .htaccess files</h3>
The example given is crafted to be used in server or virtualhost
scope. If you're planning to use this in a <code>.htaccess</code>
file, you'll need to remove the leading slash from the rewrite
pattern in order for it to match anything:
<div class="example"><p><code>
RewriteRule ^product/(.*) /prods.php?id=${product2id:$1|NOTFOUND} [PT]
</code></p></div>
</div>
<div class="note"><h3>Cached lookups</h3>
<p>
The looked-up keys are cached by httpd until the <code>mtime</code>
(modified time) of the mapfile changes, or the httpd server is
restarted. This ensures better performance on maps that are called
by many requests.
</p>
</div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="rnd" id="rnd">rnd: Randomized Plain Text</a></h2>
<p>When a MapType of <code>rnd</code> is used, the MapSource is a
filesystem path to a plain-text mapping file, each line of which
contains a key, and one or more values separated by <code>|</code>.
One of these values will be chosen at random if the key is
matched.</p>
<p>For example, you might use the following map
file and directives to provide a random load balancing between
several back-end server, via a reverse-proxy. Images are sent
to one of the servers in the 'static' pool, while everything
else is sent to one of the 'dynamic' pool.</p>
<div class="example"><h3>Rewrite map file</h3><p><code>
##<br />
## map.txt -- rewriting map<br />
##<br />
<br />
static www1|www2|www3|www4<br />
dynamic www5|www6
</code></p></div>
<div class="example"><h3>Configuration directives</h3><p><code>
RewriteMap servers rnd:/path/to/file/map.txt<br />
<br />
RewriteRule ^/(.*\.(png|gif|jpg)) http://${servers:static}/$1 [NC,P,L]<br />
RewriteRule ^/(.*) http://${servers:dynamic}/$1 [P,L]
</code></p></div>
<p>So, when an image is requested and the first of these rules is
matched, <code>RewriteMap</code> looks up the string
<code>static</code> in the map file, which returns one of the
specified hostnames at random, which is then used in the
<code>RewriteRule</code> target.</p>
<p>If you wanted to have one of the servers more likely to be chosen
(for example, if one of the server has more memory than the others,
and so can handle more requests) simply list it more times in the
map file.</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
static www1|www1|www2|www3|www4
</code></p></div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="dbm" id="dbm">dbm: DBM Hash File</a></h2>
<p>When a MapType of <code>dbm</code> is used, the MapSource is a
filesystem path to a DBM database file containing key/value pairs to
be used in the mapping. This works exactly the same way as the
<code>txt</code> map, but is much faster, because a DBM is indexed,
whereas a text file is not. This allows more rapid access to the
desired key.</p>
<p>You may optionally specify a particular dbm type:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
RewriteMap examplemap dbm=sdbm:/etc/apache/mapfile.dbm
</code></p></div>
<p>The type can be sdbm, gdbm, ndbm or db.
However, it is recommended that you just use the <a href="../programs/httxt2dbm.html">httxt2dbm</a> utility that is
provided with Apache HTTP Server, as it will use the correct DBM library,
matching the one that was used when httpd itself was built.</p>
<p>To create a dbm file, first create a text map file as described
in the <a href="#txt">txt</a> section. Then run
<code>httxt2dbm</code>:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
$ httxt2dbm -i mapfile.txt -o mapfile.map
</code></p></div>
<p>You can then reference the resulting file in your
<code>RewriteMap</code> directive:</p>
<div class="example"><p><code>
RewriteMap mapname dbm:/etc/apache/mapfile.map
</code></p></div>
<div class="note">
<p>Note that with some dbm types, more than one file is generated, with
a common base name. For example, you may have two files named
<code>mapfile.map.dir</code> and <code>mapfiile.map.pag</code>. This is
normal, and you need only use the base name <code>mapfile.map</code> in
your <code>RewriteMap</code> directive.</p>
</div>
<div class="note"><h3>Cached lookups</h3>
<p>
The looked-up keys are cached by httpd until the <code>mtime</code>
(modified time) of the mapfile changes, or the httpd server is
restarted. This ensures better performance on maps that are called
by many requests.
</p>
</div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="int" id="int">int: Internal Function</a></h2>
<p>When a MapType of <code>int</code> is used, the MapSource is one
of the available internal RewriteMap functions. Module authors can provide
additional internal functions by registering them with the
<code>ap_register_rewrite_mapfunc</code> API.
The functions that are provided by default are:
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>toupper</strong>:<br />
Converts the key to all upper case.</li>
<li><strong>tolower</strong>:<br />
Converts the key to all lower case.</li>
<li><strong>escape</strong>:<br />
Translates special characters in the key to
hex-encodings.</li>
<li><strong>unescape</strong>:<br />
Translates hex-encodings in the key back to
special characters.</li>
</ul>
<p>
To use one of these functions, create a <code>RewriteMap</code> referencing
the int function, and then use that in your <code>RewriteRule</code>:
</p>
<div class="example"><h3>Redirect a URI to an all-lowercase version of itself</h3><p><code>
RewriteMap lc int:tolower<br />
RewriteRule (.*[A-Z]+.*) ${lc:$1} [R]
</code></p></div>
<div class="note">
<p>Please note that the example offered here is for
illustration purposes only, and is not a recommendation. If you want
to make URLs case-insensitive, consider using
<code class="module"><a href="../mod/mod_speling.html">mod_speling</a></code> instead.
</p>
</div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="prg" id="prg">prg: External Rewriting Program</a></h2>
<p>When a MapType of <code>prg</code> is used, the MapSource is a
filesystem path to an executable program which will providing the
mapping behavior. This can be a compiled binary file, or a program
in an interpreted language such as Perl or Python.</p>
<p>This program is started once, when the Apache HTTP Server is
started, and then communicates with the rewriting engine via
<code>STDIN</code> and <code>STDOUT</code>. That is, for each map
function lookup, it expects one argument via <code>STDIN</code>, and
should return one new-line terminated response string on
<code>STDOUT</code>. If there is no corresponding lookup value, the
map program should return the four-character string
"<code>NULL</code>" to indicate this.</p>
<p>External rewriting programs are not started if they're defined in
a context that does not have <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriteengine">RewriteEngine</a></code> set to
<code>on</code>.</p>
<p>A simple example is shown here which will replace all dashes with
underscores in a request URI.</p>
<div class="example"><h3>Rewrite configuration</h3><p><code>
RewriteMap d2u prg:/www/bin/dash2under.pl<br />
RewriteRule - ${d2u:%{REQUEST_URI}}
</code></p></div>
<div class="example"><h3>dash2under.pl</h3><p><code>
#!/usr/bin/perl<br />
$| = 1; # Turn off I/O buffering<br />
while (<STDIN>) {<br />
<span class="indent">
s/-/_/g; # Replace dashes with underscores<br />
print $_;<br />
</span>
}<br />
</code></p></div>
<div class="note"><h3>Caution!</h3>
<ul>
<li>Keep your rewrite map program as simple as possible. If the program
hangs, it will cause httpd to wait indefinitely for a response from the
map, which will, in turn, cause httpd to stop responding to
requests.</li>
<li>Be sure to turn off buffering in your program. In Perl this is done
by the second line in the example script: <code>$| = 1;</code> This will
of course vary in other languages. Buffered I/O will cause httpd to wait
for the output, and so it will hang.</li>
<li>Remember that there is only one copy of the program, started at
server startup. All requests will need to go through this one bottleneck.
This can cause significant slowdowns if many requests must go through
this process, or if the script itself is very slow.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="section">
<h2><a name="summary" id="summary">Summary</a></h2>
<p>The <code class="directive">RewriteMap</code> directive can occur more than
once. For each mapping-function use one
<code class="directive">RewriteMap</code> directive to declare its rewriting
mapfile.</p>
<p>While you cannot <strong>declare</strong> a map in
per-directory context (<code>.htaccess</code> files or
<Directory> blocks) it is possible to
<strong>use</strong> this map in per-directory context. </p>
</div></div>
<div class="bottomlang">
<p><span>Available Languages: </span><a href="../en/rewrite/rewritemap.html" title="English"> en </a></p>
</div><div id="footer">
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