-@noindent
-where @var{tagregexp} is used to match the lines to tag. It is always
-anchored, that is, it behaves as if preceded by @samp{^}. If you want
-to account for indentation, just match any initial number of blanks by
-beginning your regular expression with @samp{[ \t]*}. In the regular
-expressions, @samp{\} quotes the next character, and @samp{\t} stands
-for the tab character. Note that @code{etags} does not handle the other
-C escape sequences for special characters.
-
-@cindex interval operator (in regexps)
- The syntax of regular expressions in @code{etags} is the same as in
-Emacs, augmented with the @dfn{interval operator}, which works as in
-@code{grep} and @code{ed}. The syntax of an interval operator is
-@samp{\@{@var{m},@var{n}\@}}, and its meaning is to match the preceding
-expression at least @var{m} times and up to @var{n} times.
-
- You should not match more characters with @var{tagregexp} than that
-needed to recognize what you want to tag. If the match is such that
-more characters than needed are unavoidably matched by @var{tagregexp}
-(as will usually be the case), you should add a @var{nameregexp}, to
-pick out just the tag. This will enable Emacs to find tags more
-accurately and to do completion on tag names more reliably. You can
-find some examples below.
-
- The option @samp{--ignore-case-regex} (or @samp{-c}) works like
-@samp{--regex}, except that matching ignores case. This is
-appropriate for certain programming languages.
-
- The @samp{-R} option deletes all the regexps defined with
+ The essential part of the option value is @var{tagregexp}, the
+regexp for matching tags. It is always used anchored, that is, it
+only matches at the beginning of a line. If you want to allow
+indented tags, use a regexp that matches initial whitespace; start it
+with @samp{[ \t]*}.
+
+ In these regular expressions, @samp{\} quotes the next character, and
+all the GCC character escape sequences are supported (@samp{\a} for
+bell, @samp{\b} for back space, @samp{\d} for delete, @samp{\e} for
+escape, @samp{\f} for formfeed, @samp{\n} for newline, @samp{\r} for
+carriage return, @samp{\t} for tab, and @samp{\v} for vertical tab).
+
+ Ideally, @var{tagregexp} should not match more characters than are
+needed to recognize what you want to tag. If the syntax requires you
+to write @var{tagregexp} so it matches more characters beyond the tag
+itself, you should add a @var{nameregexp}, to pick out just the tag.
+This will enable Emacs to find tags more accurately and to do
+completion on tag names more reliably. You can find some examples
+below.
+
+ The @var{modifiers} are a sequence of zero or more characters that
+modify the way @code{etags} does the matching. A regexp with no
+modifiers is applied sequentially to each line of the input file, in a
+case-sensitive way. The modifiers and their meanings are:
+
+@table @samp
+@item i
+Ignore case when matching this regexp.
+@item m
+Match this regular expression against the whole file, so that
+multi-line matches are possible.
+@item s
+Match this regular expression against the whole file, and allow
+@samp{.} in @var{tagregexp} to match newlines.
+@end table
+
+ The @samp{-R} option cancels all the regexps defined by preceding