(?m-isx:^.*$) matches as follows: NODE EXPLANATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (?m-isx: group, but do not capture (with ^ and $ matching start and end of line) (case- sensitive) (with . not matching \n) (matching whitespace and # normally): ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ^ the beginning of a "line" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- .* any character except \n (0 or more times (matching the most amount possible)) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- $ before an optional \n, and the end of a "line" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ) end of grouping ----------------------------------------------------------------------