mod_rewrite error - .htaccess

Question

I'm using mod_rewrite in my new website.
.htaccess file
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{SCRIPT_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?rwr=$1
index.php file
if (isset($_REQUEST['rwr'])) {
if (substr($_REQUEST['rwr'], -1) == "/") {
$modrewrite = substr($_REQUEST['rwr'], 0, -1);
} else {
$modrewrite = $_REQUEST['rwr'];
}
$modrewrite = explode("/", $modrewrite);
}
if (isset($modrewrite) && $modrewrite[0] != "") {
$category = $modrewrite[0];
} else {
$category = null;
}
if (isset($modrewrite[1])) {
$service = $modrewrite[1];
} else {
$service = null;
}
if (isset($modrewrite[2])) {
$identification = $modrewrite[2];
} else {
$identification = null;
}
With this the link www.domain.com/service/webdesign/works go to -
$category = "service";
$service = "webdesign";
$identification = "works";
This works but I want to optimize it:
.htaccess file
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^(.*)/(.*)/(.*)$ index.php?category=$1&service=$2&identification=$3
index.php file
$category = $_GET['category'];
$service = $_GET['service'];
$identification = $_GET['identification'];
But it doesn't work. Why? Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

Your rule should work fine for URL in question. It could be your Apache configuration and/or similarly named files that causing it. Lets take your example URL /service/webdesign/works. It is possible that you have file named service.php then Apache may ignore that rewrite rule for some reason.
You can use this approach:
Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
# Do not do anything for already existing files
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule .+ - [L]
# the rewrite rule
RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9\-_]*)(/([a-z0-9\-_]+))?(/([a-z0-9\-_]+))?$ index.php?category=$1&service=$3&identification=$5 [NC,QSA,L]
This is a tested and working solution.