PHP: How can I get the URL that has been rewritten with mod_rewrite?

Question

For example, if I rewrite /category/topic/post/ to /index.php?cat=1&topic=2&post=3, how can I get /index.php?cat=1&topic=2&post=3

Answer 1

Here is how to get the URL received by PHP after being rewritten with mod_rewrite in Apache:

 $url = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'].'?'.$_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'];

You can compare this url with the actual url in the browser to debug any rewrite rules in .htaccess