.htaccess rewrite everything except images, scripts, and stylesheets - regex

Question

I have a web project with two directories: "core" and "public".
"Core" contains all of the controllers, views, and files required for the Model-View-Controller.
"Public" contains all public files, like js, css, and less, that can be accessed directly.
I have the following .htaccess in the main directory:
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(\.png|\.jpg|\.gif|\.jpeg|\.bmp|\.css|\.js|\.less|\.coffee)$
RewriteRule ^$ core/ [L]
RewriteRule (.*) core/$1 [L]
</IfModule>
However, it still rewrites those files to the 'core' directory.
What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

I recommend you use this instead:
RewriteEngine on
# First, check if a specific type is being requested
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\.(png|jpg|gif|jpeg|bmp|css|js|less|coffee)$ [NC]
# Second, check if the request is for an existing file
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f
# If both conditions are true, then skip rewriting
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
# Otherwise, continue:
RewriteRule ^$ core/ [L]
RewriteRule (.+) core/$1 [L]
The reason your assets were being sent to core is because the conditions only work for the first rule, which was for your application index. Using this method tells mod_rewrite to skip rewriting if an asset is being requested. Once it does that, it can continue with all other rules.