apache - mod rewrite urls for search page parameters -

i rewriting search page variables with:

rewriterule ^search/([^/]*)/([^/]*)$ /search.php?search=$1&cat=$2 [l] 

which works if go /search/test/members

however if on home page , use search box, url shows as:

/search?search=test&cat=members 

how rewrite url when user uses search form url shows as:

/search/test/members 

add these rules:

rewritecond %{the_request} \ /+search\.php\?search=([^&]+)&cat=([^&\ ]+) rewriterule ^ /search/%1/%2? [l,r] 

in order redirect browser new url. cleaner url requested , rule have internally rewrite back it's supposed be.