title: Apache RewriteRule, - (dash) as substitution
body: <p>I often see in PHP MVC applications an Apache <code>RewriteRule</code> that looks like this:</p>
  <pre><code>RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
  </code></pre>
  <p>The <a href="https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Apache docs for the <code>RewriteRule</code> directive</a> states:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>A dash indicates that no substitution
  should be performed (the existing path
  is passed through untouched). This is
  used when a flag (see below) needs to
  be applied without changing the path.</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>So from what I gather, you can use this to transform a path using a flag i.e <code>[NC]</code> for the <code>RewriteRule</code>s to follow?</p>
  <p>Could someone please explain this dash <code>RewriteRule</code> a little better?</p>