title: Empty $_GET variable when using mod_rewrite
body: <p>I want to pass all requests to my site through index.php</p>
  
  <p>So I copied the relevant text from Drupal's .htaccess file into my own .htaccess file, as Drupal passes all requests to index.php</p>
  
  <p>Here's what my .htaccess file looks like -</p>
  
  <pre><code># These rewrite rules force all requests to go through index.php
  # This code is taken from the Drupal .htaccess file
  &lt;IfModule mod_rewrite.c&gt;
    RewriteEngine on
  
    # Block access to "hidden" directories whose names begin with a period. 
    # Files whose names begin with a period are protected by the FilesMatch directive
    # above.
    RewriteRule "(^|/)\." - [F]
  
    # Pass all requests not referring directly to files in the filesystem to
    # index.php. Clean URLs are handled in drupal_environment_initialize().
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
  &lt;/IfModule&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>mod_rewrite is working for me, all requests are going through index.php. However, when i look at the $_GET variable in eclipse debugger it is empty. Say I visit the address -</p>
  
  <pre><code>http://localhost/mysite/this/path
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I would expect the $_GET array to contain the following the 'q' variable that is set to 'this/path'</p>
  
  <p>Because if I visit <code>http://localhost/mydrupalsite/node/3</code> I will have a $_GET array that contains a 'q' that contains 'node/3'.</p>
  
  <p>So why is my $_GET array empty?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Edit:</strong>
  Here is my apache httpd.conf file -</p>
  
  <pre><code>#
  # Based upon the NCSA server configuration files originally by Rob McCool.
  #
  # This is the main Apache server configuration file.  It contains the
  # configuration directives that give the server its instructions.
  # See http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/ for detailed information about
  # the directives.
  #
  # Do NOT simply read the instructions in here without understanding
  # what they do.  They're here only as hints or reminders.  If you are unsure
  # consult the online docs. You have been warned.  
  #
  # The configuration directives are grouped into three basic sections:
  #  1. Directives that control the operation of the Apache server process as a
  #     whole (the 'global environment').
  #  2. Directives that define the parameters of the 'main' or 'default' server,
  #     which responds to requests that aren't handled by a virtual host.
  #     These directives also provide default values for the settings
  #     of all virtual hosts.
  #  3. Settings for virtual hosts, which allow Web requests to be sent to
  #     different IP addresses or hostnames and have them handled by the
  #     same Apache server process.
  #
  # Configuration and logfile names: If the filenames you specify for many
  # of the server's control files begin with "/" (or "drive:/" for Win32), the
  # server will use that explicit path.  If the filenames do *not* begin
  # with "/", the value of ServerRoot is prepended -- so "foo.log"
  # with ServerRoot set to "/etc/apache2" will be interpreted by the
  # server as "/etc/apache2/foo.log".
  #
  
  ### Section 1: Global Environment
  #
  # The directives in this section affect the overall operation of Apache,
  # such as the number of concurrent requests it can handle or where it
  # can find its configuration files.
  #
  
  #
  # ServerRoot: The top of the directory tree under which the server's
  # configuration, error, and log files are kept.
  #
  # NOTE!  If you intend to place this on an NFS (or otherwise network)
  # mounted filesystem then please read the LockFile documentation (available
  # at &lt;URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mpm_common.html#lockfile&gt;);
  # you will save yourself a lot of trouble.
  #
  # Do NOT add a slash at the end of the directory path.
  #
  #ServerRoot "/etc/apache2"
  
  #
  # The accept serialization lock file MUST BE STORED ON A LOCAL DISK.
  #
  LockFile ${APACHE_LOCK_DIR}/accept.lock
  
  #
  # PidFile: The file in which the server should record its process
  # identification number when it starts.
  # This needs to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars
  #
  PidFile ${APACHE_PID_FILE}
  
  #
  # Timeout: The number of seconds before receives and sends time out.
  #
  Timeout 300
  
  #
  # KeepAlive: Whether or not to allow persistent connections (more than
  # one request per connection). Set to "Off" to deactivate.
  #
  KeepAlive On
  
  #
  # MaxKeepAliveRequests: The maximum number of requests to allow
  # during a persistent connection. Set to 0 to allow an unlimited amount.
  # We recommend you leave this number high, for maximum performance.
  #
  MaxKeepAliveRequests 100
  
  #
  # KeepAliveTimeout: Number of seconds to wait for the next request from the
  # same client on the same connection.
  #
  KeepAliveTimeout 15
  
  ##
  ## Server-Pool Size Regulation (MPM specific)
  ## 
  
  # prefork MPM
  # StartServers: number of server processes to start
  # MinSpareServers: minimum number of server processes which are kept spare
  # MaxSpareServers: maximum number of server processes which are kept spare
  # MaxClients: maximum number of server processes allowed to start
  # MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
  &lt;IfModule mpm_prefork_module&gt;
      StartServers          5
      MinSpareServers       5
      MaxSpareServers      10
      MaxClients          150
      MaxRequestsPerChild   0
  &lt;/IfModule&gt;
  
  # worker MPM
  # StartServers: initial number of server processes to start
  # MinSpareThreads: minimum number of worker threads which are kept spare
  # MaxSpareThreads: maximum number of worker threads which are kept spare
  # ThreadLimit: ThreadsPerChild can be changed to this maximum value during a
  #              graceful restart. ThreadLimit can only be changed by stopping
  #              and starting Apache.
  # ThreadsPerChild: constant number of worker threads in each server process
  # MaxClients: maximum number of simultaneous client connections
  # MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
  &lt;IfModule mpm_worker_module&gt;
      StartServers          2
      MinSpareThreads      25
      MaxSpareThreads      75 
      ThreadLimit          64
      ThreadsPerChild      25
      MaxClients          150
      MaxRequestsPerChild   0
  &lt;/IfModule&gt;
  
  # event MPM
  # StartServers: initial number of server processes to start
  # MinSpareThreads: minimum number of worker threads which are kept spare
  # MaxSpareThreads: maximum number of worker threads which are kept spare
  # ThreadsPerChild: constant number of worker threads in each server process
  # MaxClients: maximum number of simultaneous client connections
  # MaxRequestsPerChild: maximum number of requests a server process serves
  &lt;IfModule mpm_event_module&gt;
      StartServers          2
      MinSpareThreads      25
      MaxSpareThreads      75 
      ThreadLimit          64
      ThreadsPerChild      25
      MaxClients          150
      MaxRequestsPerChild   0
  &lt;/IfModule&gt;
  
  # These need to be set in /etc/apache2/envvars
  User ${APACHE_RUN_USER}
  Group ${APACHE_RUN_GROUP}
  
  #
  # AccessFileName: The name of the file to look for in each directory
  # for additional configuration directives.  See also the AllowOverride
  # directive.
  #
  
  AccessFileName .htaccess
  
  #
  # The following lines prevent .htaccess and .htpasswd files from being 
  # viewed by Web clients. 
  #
  &lt;Files ~ "^\.ht"&gt;
      Order allow,deny
      Deny from all
      Satisfy all
  &lt;/Files&gt;
  
  #
  # DefaultType is the default MIME type the server will use for a document
  # if it cannot otherwise determine one, such as from filename extensions.
  # If your server contains mostly text or HTML documents, "text/plain" is
  # a good value.  If most of your content is binary, such as applications
  # or images, you may want to use "application/octet-stream" instead to
  # keep browsers from trying to display binary files as though they are
  # text.
  #
  DefaultType text/plain
  
  
  #
  # HostnameLookups: Log the names of clients or just their IP addresses
  # e.g., www.apache.org (on) or 204.62.129.132 (off).
  # The default is off because it'd be overall better for the net if people
  # had to knowingly turn this feature on, since enabling it means that
  # each client request will result in AT LEAST one lookup request to the
  # nameserver.
  #
  HostnameLookups Off
  
  # ErrorLog: The location of the error log file.
  # If you do not specify an ErrorLog directive within a &lt;VirtualHost&gt;
  # container, error messages relating to that virtual host will be
  # logged here.  If you *do* define an error logfile for a &lt;VirtualHost&gt;
  # container, that host's errors will be logged there and not here.
  #
  ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
  
  #
  # LogLevel: Control the number of messages logged to the error_log.
  # Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
  # alert, emerg.
  #
  LogLevel warn
  
  # Include module configuration:
  Include mods-enabled/*.load
  Include mods-enabled/*.conf
  
  # Include all the user configurations:
  Include httpd.conf
  
  # Include ports listing
  Include ports.conf
  
  #
  # The following directives define some format nicknames for use with
  # a CustomLog directive (see below).
  # If you are behind a reverse proxy, you might want to change %h into %{X-Forwarded-For}i
  #
  LogFormat "%v:%p %h %l %u %t \"%r\" %&gt;s %O \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" vhost_combined
  LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %&gt;s %O \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" combined
  LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %&gt;s %O" common
  LogFormat "%{Referer}i -&gt; %U" referer
  LogFormat "%{User-agent}i" agent
  
  # Include of directories ignores editors' and dpkg's backup files,
  # see README.Debian for details.
  
  # Include generic snippets of statements
  Include conf.d/
  
  # Include the virtual host configurations:
  Include sites-enabled/
  </code></pre>