.htaccess rewrite regex: match anything but “index”

Question

I\'m trying to create a rule used in a .htaccess file to match anything but a particular string, in this case: index.

I thought that it sho

Answer 1

(Please read the comments. I doubt it and I've never encountered problems, while it gives one much cleaner .htaccess files, but: using RewriteCond might be preferred over using RewriteRule with a dash, due to how rulesets are processed?)

Just use RewriteRule as follows, to not rewrite (the dash), and stop subsequent rewriting (the [L]) for anything that starts with index/:

# Do not rewrite anything that starts with index/
RewriteRule ^index/ - [L]

After this, do any rewriting you like.

Or maybe even limit some more first:

# Do not rewrite files, directories or symbolic links 
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR] 
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d [OR] 
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l 
RewriteRule . - [L]