c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le
"use YAPE::Regex::Explain;
 print YAPE::Regex::Explain->new(qr/.*(.|\n)/)->explain();
"
The regular expression:

(?-imsx:.*(.|\n))

matches as follows:

NODE                     EXPLANATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(?-imsx:                 group, but do not capture (case-sensitive)
                         (with ^ and $ matching normally) (with . not
                         matching \n) (matching whitespace and #
                         normally):
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  .*                       any character except \n (0 or more times
                           (matching the most amount possible))
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  (                        group and capture to \1:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
    .                        any character except \n
----------------------------------------------------------------------
   |                        OR
----------------------------------------------------------------------
    \n                       '\n' (newline)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  )                        end of \1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
)                        end of grouping
----------------------------------------------------------------------