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What's the difference between "^", "$" and "^^" in regexp?

1997-03-27 11:34:38
In the procmailrc man pages, "^", "$" and "^^" in regexps are defined as 
follows:

^    - Start of a line
$    - End of a line
^^   - Anchor the expression at the very start of the search area, or if
       encountered at the end of the expression, anchor it at the very end
       of the search area.

In addition, "^" and "$" will match a new-line.

Unhappily, I haven't been able to find any explanation of what the
"search area" is and how it differs from the area that the normal 
"^" and "$" tokens apply to.

I'd appreciate it if somebody could/would provide some enlightenment?

Also, why/how would one use the "\<" or "\>" tokens?  Again, the man
pages are less than explicit about the whole issue.

Thanks again....

Simeon

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