URL Rewriting rule in .htaccess

[maximuz_2k2]

Hi i would like to get have an idea how does url rewriting fully works, because i want to change the dynamic address of my link to change into static.

like the example below
dynamic address
"http://www.mydomain.com/view_links.php?command=show&catID=136"

with the use of .htaccess i want to have a static address like the one below:
"http://www.mydomain.com/view_links-command-show-catid-136.htm"

i tried to put the code below to my .htaccess file but still it didn't work
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule view_links-command-(.*)-catid-(.*)\.htm$ view_links.php?command=$1&catid=$2

------ ADDITIONAL INFO ------------

my code in php
<a href='http:/www.mydomain.com/view_links.php?command=show&catID='.$row['catID'].'>More Links</a>

when looking at the front page and point the mouse over the link "more link"
the address would be like this one --> "http://www.mydomain.com/view_links.php?command=show&catID=136"

What i would like to happen is make an static address from the dynamic address using .htaccess

i'm not really so sure how it works.

[ravi_shekhar80]

Read out this page http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/misc/rewriteguide.html hopefully it will help you.