Optional param Zend Route Regex - regex

Question

How to make route regex parameters optionals with Zend ?
I try to make well formatted URLs ("search?s=mp&t=w" instead of "search/index/s/mp/t/w") for search filters, ex. :
Popularity
Most popular (s=mp)
Most viewed (s=mv, default)
Top rated (s=tr)
Most commented (s=mc)
Period
All period (t=a, default)
Today (t=d)
This week (t=w)
This month (t=m)
So, to get all top rated items from today i will have : search?s=tr&t=d
With regex routes i must specify defaults values and the problem is that the url view helper generates links with the default values and not with the current values.
Here is my route :
resources.router.routes.search.type = "Zend_Controller_Router_Route_Regex"
resources.router.routes.search.route = "search\?s\=(.+)\&t\=(.+)"
resources.router.routes.search.map.1 = s
resources.router.routes.search.map.2 = t
resources.router.routes.search.defaults.module = front
resources.router.routes.search.defaults.controller = search
resources.router.routes.search.defaults.action = index
resources.router.routes.search.defaults.s = mv
resources.router.routes.search.defaults.t = a
resources.router.routes.search.reverse = "search?s=%s&t=%s"
and links :
<div class="filters note">
<div class="filters-content">
<h3>Popularity</h3>
<ul class="filters-list">
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('s' => 'mp'), 'search')?>">
Most popular
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('s' => 'mv'), 'search')?>">
Most viewed
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('s' => 'tr'), 'search')?>">
Top rated
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('s' => 'mc'), 'search')?>">
Most commented
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="filters period">
<div class="filters-content">
<h3>Period</h3>
<ul class="filters-list">
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('t' => 'a'), 'search')?>">
All period
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('t' => 'd'), 'search')?>">
Today
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('t' => 'w'), 'search')?>">
This week
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?=$this->url(array('t' => 'm'), 'search')?>">
This month
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
For example, if current page is "search?s=tr&t=d" and i clic on "This week", the link is : "search?s=mv&t=w" instead of "search?s=tr&t=w" because of the default values.
I must specify default values or i get an error.
Any idea ?
Thanks,
Benjamin.

Answer 1

I haven't used the regex routes, but I have seen this error. Basically, the defaults.[param] parts need values. I my custom route, I am setting them to be empty:
; Navigation ID Route (uses navigation id)
resources.router.routes.nav.route = "p/:id/:title/*"
resources.router.routes.nav.defaults.module = "default"
resources.router.routes.nav.defaults.controller = "index"
resources.router.routes.nav.defaults.action = "index"
resources.router.routes.nav.defaults.id =
resources.router.routes.nav.defaults.title =
resources.router.routes.nav.reqs.id = "\d+"
resources.router.routes.nav.reqs.title = ".*"

Answer 2

are you sure you want to do it this way? a few times i've tried to "fight the framework" but found out the framework knew better (grin). can i suggest another way? (that Google may like better: makes your URLs more "people friendly" too). Use URLs like
/top-rated-widgets/today
/most-viewed-widgets/this-month
/most-commented-widgets
where you replace "widgets" with whatever your site is about eg "videos", "blog posts", "unicycles" whatever.
then each of the above routes to your search controller