php - Emulating Node/Express Routes in .htaccess -

i have been trying emulate how nodejs/express work routes. forwarding traffic index.php process routes (using altorouter).

my file struture this:

-/ --public/   |- assets   |- ... --routes/   |- route.php   |- ... --index.php 

take these urls instance (all should return/redirect 404):

http://testsite.com/routes

http://testsite.com/routes/route.php

http://testsite.com/somefile.php

however assets should directly accessible (i dont want include /public/:

http://testsite.com/assets/image.png

http://testsite.com/assets/styles/style.css

this have far:

# make sure mod_rewrite on <ifmodule mod_rewrite.c>     rewriteengine on      # should allow our assets , keep them public     rewritecond %{request_filename} !-f     rewritecond %{request_filename} !-d     rewriterule ^(.*)\.(gif|jpg|png|jpeg|css|js|swf)$ /public/$1.$2 [l,nc]      # forward other traffic index.php     rewriterule ^.+$ index.php [l] </ifmodule> 

one issue i've come accross going: http://testsite.com/routesproduces:

i guess main question isnt in public shouldnt accessable (not sure if .htacces way go or not)

you don't have bury files above web root if use right rules. private files can made inaccessible.

<ifmodule mod_rewrite.c>     rewriteengine on     # transform assets urls correct path, , proceed next rule     # checking existence in rewriteconds useless here since public urls not 1:1 physical paths     rewriterule ^assets/.+ public/$0 [ns,dpi]     # send *all* urls index.php except point asset file exists     rewritecond $1 !=public/assets/ [or]     # change slash in next condition sub-directory if not serving web root, e.g. %{document_root}/project/root/$0     rewritecond %{document_root}/$0 !-f     rewriterule ^((?:[^/]+/){2})?.+ index.php [ns,end] </ifmodule>