diff --git a/Doc/lib/libre.tex b/Doc/lib/libre.tex
index b63a5fa..8e273bc 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libre.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libre.tex
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 \bimodindex{re}
 
 % XXX Remove before 1.5final release.
-{\large\bf The \code{re} module is still in the process of being
-developed, and more features will be added in future 1.5 alphas and
-betas.  This documentation is also preliminary and incomplete.  If you
+{\large\bf This documentation is also preliminary and incomplete.  If you
 find a bug or documentation error, or just find something unclear,
 please send a message to
 \code{string-sig@python.org}, and we'll fix it.}
@@ -53,7 +51,7 @@
 %Similarly, a backslash followed by a digit 0-7 should be doubled to
 %avoid interpretation as an octal escape.
 
-\subsection{Regular Expressions}
+\subsection{Regular Expression Syntax}
 
 A regular expression (or RE) specifies a set of strings that matches
 it; the functions in this module let you check if a particular string
@@ -92,9 +90,10 @@
 specified, this matches any character including a newline.
 \item[\code{\^}] (Caret.)  Matches the start of the string, and in
 \code{MULTILINE} mode also immediately after each newline.
-\item[\code{\$}] Matches the end of the string.  
+\item[\code{\$}] Matches the end of the string, and in
+\code{MULTILINE} mode also matches before a newline.
 \code{foo} matches both 'foo' and 'foobar', while the regular
-expression '\code{foo\$}' matches only 'foo'.
+expression \code{foo\$} matches only 'foo'.
 %
 \item[\code{*}] Causes the resulting RE to
 match 0 or more repetitions of the preceding RE, as many repetitions
@@ -130,17 +129,18 @@
 subsequent character are included in the resulting string.  However,
 if Python would recognize the resulting sequence, the backslash should
 be repeated twice.   This is complicated and hard to understand, so
-it's highly recommended that you use raw strings.
+it's highly recommended that you use raw strings for all but the simplest expressions.
 %
 \item[\code{[]}] Used to indicate a set of characters.  Characters can
-be listed individually, or a range is indicated by giving two
-characters and separating them by a '-'.  Special characters are not
-active inside sets.  For example, \code{[akm\$]} will match any of the
-characters 'a', 'k', 'm', or '\$'; \code{[a-z]} will match any
-lowercase letter and \code{[a-zA-Z0-9]} matches any letter or digit.
-Character classes of the form \code{\e \var{X}} defined below are also acceptable. 
-If you want to include a \code{]} or a \code{-} inside a
-set, precede it with a backslash. 
+be listed individually, or a range of characters can be indicated by
+giving two characters and separating them by a '-'.  Special
+characters are not active inside sets.  For example, \code{[akm\$]}
+will match any of the characters 'a', 'k', 'm', or '\$'; \code{[a-z]}
+will match any lowercase letter and \code{[a-zA-Z0-9]} matches any
+letter or digit.  Character classes such as \code{\e w} or \code {\e
+S} (defined below) are also acceptable inside a range.  If you want to
+include a \code{]} or a \code{-} inside a set, precede it with a
+backslash.
 
 Characters \emph{not} within a range can be matched by including a
 \code{\^} as the first character of the set; \code{\^} elsewhere will
@@ -151,11 +151,11 @@
 be used inside groups (see below) as well.  To match a literal '|', 
 use \code{\e|}, or enclose it inside a character class, like \code{[|]}.
 %
-\item[\code{(...)}] Matches whatever regular expression is inside the parentheses, and indicates the start and end of a group; the
-contents of a group can be retrieved after a match has been performed,
-and can be matched later in the string with the
-\code{\e \var{number}} special sequence, described below.  To match the
-literals '(' or ')', 
+\item[\code{(...)}] Matches whatever regular expression is inside the
+parentheses, and indicates the start and end of a group; the contents
+of a group can be retrieved after a match has been performed, and can
+be matched later in the string with the \code{\e \var{number}} special
+sequence, described below.  To match the literals '(' or ')', 
 use \code{\e(} or \code{\e)}, or enclose them inside a character
 class: \code{[(] [)]}.
 %
@@ -167,9 +167,9 @@
 \item[\code{(?iLmsx)}] (One or more letters from the set 'i', 'L', 'm', 's',
 'x'.) The group matches the empty string; the letters set the
 corresponding flags (re.I, re.L, re.M, re.S, re.X) for the entire regular
-expression.  (The flag 'L' is uppercase because it is not in standard Perl.)
-This is useful if you wish include the flags as part of the regular
-expression, instead of passing a \var{flag} argument to the \code{compile} function.
+expression.  This is useful if you wish include the flags as part of
+the regular expression, instead of passing a \var{flag} argument to
+the \code{compile} function. 
 %
 \item[\code{(?:...)}] A non-grouping version of regular parentheses.
 Matches whatever's inside the parentheses, but the text matched by the
@@ -183,12 +183,14 @@
 named.  So the group named 'id' in the example above can also be
 referenced as the numbered group 1.
 
-For example, if the pattern string is
-\code{r'(?P<id>[a-zA-Z_]\e w*)'}, the group can be referenced by its
+For example, if the pattern is
+\code{(?P<id>[a-zA-Z_]\e w*)}, the group can be referenced by its
 name in arguments to methods of match objects, such as \code{m.group('id')}
 or \code{m.end('id')}, and also by name in pattern text (e.g. \code{(?P=id)}) and
 replacement text (e.g. \code{\e g<id>}).
 %
+\item[\code{(?P=\var{name})}] Matches whatever text was matched by the earlier group named \var{name}.
+%
 \item[\code{(?\#...)}] A comment; the contents of the parentheses are simply ignored.
 %
 \item[\code{(?=...)}] Matches if \code{...} matches next, but doesn't consume any of the string.  This is called a lookahead assertion.  For example, 
@@ -203,8 +205,7 @@
 The special sequences consist of '\code{\e}' and a character from the
 list below.  If the ordinary character is not on the list, then the
 resulting RE will match the second character.  For example,
-\code{\e\$} matches the character '\$'.  Ones where the backslash
-should be doubled are indicated.
+\code{\e\$} matches the character '\$'.  
 
 \begin{itemize}
 
@@ -222,7 +223,9 @@
 \item[\code{\e b}] Matches the empty string, but only at the
 beginning or end of a word.  A word is defined as a sequence of
 alphanumeric characters, so the end of a word is indicated by
-whitespace or a non-alphanumeric character.  
+whitespace or a non-alphanumeric character.  Inside a character range,
+\code{\e b} represents the backspace character, for compatibility with
+Python's string literals.
 %
 \item[\code{\e B}] Matches the empty string, but only when it is
 \emph{not} at the beginning or end of a word.
@@ -274,35 +277,42 @@
 
 \begin{itemize}
 
-\item[I ] or IGNORECASE:
-Perform case-insensitive matching; expressions like [A-Z] will match
-lowercase letters, too.
+\item {I or IGNORECASE or \code{(?i)}}
 
-\item[L ] or LOCALE:
-Make \code{\e w}, \code{\e W}, \code{\e b}, \code{\e B}, dependent on
-the current locale.
+{Perform case-insensitive matching; expressions like \code{[A-Z]} will match
+lowercase letters, too.  This is not affected by the current locale.
+}
+\item {L or LOCALE or \code{(?L)}}
 
-\item[M ] or MULTILINE:
-When specified, the pattern character \code{\^} matches at the
-beginning of the string and at the beginning of each line (immediately
-following each newline); and the pattern character \code{\$} matches
-at the end of the string and at the end of each line (immediately
-preceding each newline).
+{Make \code{\e w}, \code{\e W}, \code{\e b},
+\code{\e B}, dependent on the current locale. 
+}
 
+\item {M or MULTILINE or \code{(?m)}}
+
+{When specified, the pattern character \code{\^} matches at the
+  beginning of the string and at the beginning of each line
+  (immediately following each newline); and the pattern character
+\code{\$} matches at the end of the string and at the end of each line
+(immediately preceding each newline).
 By default, \code{\^} matches only at the beginning of the string, and
 \code{\$} only at the end of the string and immediately before the
 newline (if any) at the end of the string. 
+}
 
-\item[S ] or DOTALL:
-Make the \code{.} special character match a newline; without this
-flag, \code{.} will match anything \emph{except} a newline.
+\item {S or DOTALL or \code{(?s)}}
 
-\item[X ] or VERBOSE:
-When specified, whitespace within the pattern string is ignored except
-when in a character class or preceded by an unescaped backslash, and,
-when a line contains a \code{\#} not in a character class or preceded
-by an unescaped backslash, all characters from the leftmost such
-\code{\#} through the end of the line are ignored.
+{Make the \code{.} special character any character at all, including a
+newline; without this flag, \code{.} will match anything \emph{except}
+a newline.} 
+
+\item {X or VERBOSE or \code{(?x)}}
+
+{Ignore whitespace within the pattern
+except when in a character class or preceded by an unescaped
+backslash, and, when a line contains a \code{\#} neither in a character
+class or preceded by an unescaped backslash, all characters from the
+leftmost such \code{\#} through the end of the line are ignored.  }
 
 \end{itemize}
 
@@ -319,8 +329,8 @@
 result = re.match(pat, str)
 \end{verbatim}\ecode
 %
-but the version using \code{compile()} is more efficient when multiple
-regular expressions are used concurrently in a single program.  
+but the version using \code{compile()} is more efficient when the
+expression will be used several times in a single program.
 %(The compiled version of the last pattern passed to \code{regex.match()} or
 %\code{regex.search()} is cached, so programs that use only a single
 %regular expression at a time needn't worry about compiling regular
@@ -328,9 +338,9 @@
 \end{funcdesc}
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{escape}{string}
-Return \var{string} with all non-alphanumerics backslashed; this is
-useful if you want to match some variable string which may have
-regular expression metacharacters in it.
+  Return \var{string} with all non-alphanumerics backslashed; this is
+  useful if you want to match an arbitrary literal string that may have
+  regular expression metacharacters in it.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{match}{pattern\, string\optional{\, flags}}
@@ -382,9 +392,9 @@
 \end{verbatim}\ecode
 %
 The pattern may be a string or a 
-regexp object; if you need to specify
-regular expression flags, you must use a regexp object, or use
-embedded modifiers in a pattern string; e.g.
+regex object; if you need to specify
+regular expression flags, you must use a regex object, or use
+embedded modifiers in a pattern; e.g.
 %
 \bcode\begin{verbatim}
 sub("(?i)b+", "x", "bbbb BBBB") returns 'x x'.
@@ -418,16 +428,14 @@
 \begin{funcdesc}{match}{string\optional{\, pos}\optional{\, endpos}}
   If zero or more characters at the beginning of \var{string} match
   this regular expression, return a corresponding
-  \code{Match} object.  Return \code{None} if the string does not
+  \code{MatchObject} instance.  Return \code{None} if the string does not
   match the pattern; note that this is different from a zero-length
   match.
   
   The optional second parameter \var{pos} gives an index in the string
-  where the search is to start; it defaults to \code{0}.  This is not
-  completely equivalent to slicing the string; the \code{'\^'} pattern
-  character matches at the real begin of the string and at positions
-  just after a newline, not necessarily at the index where the search
-  is to start.
+  where the search is to start; it defaults to \code{0}.  The
+  \code{'\^'} pattern character will match at the index where the
+  search is to start.
 
   The optional parameter \var{endpos} limits how far the string will
   be searched; it will be as if the string is \var{endpos} characters
@@ -441,8 +449,8 @@
   position in the string matches the pattern; note that this is
   different from finding a zero-length match at some point in the string.
   
-  The optional \var{pos} and \var{endpos} parameters have the same meaning as for the 
-  \code{match} method.
+  The optional \var{pos} and \var{endpos} parameters have the same
+  meaning as for the \code{match} method.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{split}{string\, \optional{, maxsplit=0}}
@@ -474,8 +482,8 @@
 The pattern string from which the regex object was compiled.
 \end{datadesc}
 
-\subsection{Match Objects}
-Match objects support the following methods and attributes:
+\subsection{MatchObjects}
+\code{Matchobject} instances support the following methods and attributes:
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{start}{group}
 \end{funcdesc}
@@ -504,23 +512,28 @@
 \code{(None, None)}.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
-\begin{funcdesc}{group}{\optional{g1, g2, ...})}
-This method is only valid when the last call to the \code{match}
-or \code{search} method found a match.  It returns one or more
-groups of the match.  If there is a single \var{index} argument,
-the result is a single string; if there are multiple arguments, the
-result is a tuple with one item per argument.  If the \var{index} is
-zero, the corresponding return value is the entire matching string; if
-it is in the inclusive range [1..99], it is the string matching the
-the corresponding parenthesized group (using the default syntax,
-groups are parenthesized using \code{\e (} and \code{\e )}).  If no
-such group exists, the corresponding result is \code{None}.
+\begin{funcdesc}{group}{\optional{g1, g2, ...}}
+Returns one or more groups of the match.  If there is a single
+\var{index} argument, the result is a single string; if there are
+multiple arguments, the result is a tuple with one item per argument.
+If the \var{index} is zero, the corresponding return value is the
+entire matching string; if it is in the inclusive range [1..99], it is
+the string matching the the corresponding parenthesized group.  If no
+such group exists, the corresponding result is
+\code{None}.
 
 If the regular expression uses the \code{(?P<\var{name}>...)} syntax,
 the \var{index} arguments may also be strings identifying groups by
 their group name.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
+\begin{funcdesc}{groups}{}
+Return a tuple containing all the subgroups of the match, from 1 up to
+however many groups are in the pattern.  Groups that did not
+participate in the match have values of \code{None}.  If the tuple
+would only be one element long, a string will be returned instead.  
+\end{funcdesc}
+
 \begin{datadesc}{pos}
 The value of \var{pos} which was passed to the
 \code{search} or \code{match} function.  This is the index into the
@@ -534,8 +547,8 @@
 \end{datadesc}
 
 \begin{datadesc}{re}
-The regular expression object whose match() or search() method
-produced this match object.
+The regular expression object whose \code{match()} or \code{search()} method
+produced this \code{MatchObject} instance.
 \end{datadesc}
 
 \begin{datadesc}{string}
@@ -545,4 +558,3 @@
 \begin{seealso}
 \seetext Jeffrey Friedl, \emph{Mastering Regular Expressions}.
 \end{seealso}
-
diff --git a/Doc/libre.tex b/Doc/libre.tex
index b63a5fa..8e273bc 100644
--- a/Doc/libre.tex
+++ b/Doc/libre.tex
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@
 \bimodindex{re}
 
 % XXX Remove before 1.5final release.
-{\large\bf The \code{re} module is still in the process of being
-developed, and more features will be added in future 1.5 alphas and
-betas.  This documentation is also preliminary and incomplete.  If you
+{\large\bf This documentation is also preliminary and incomplete.  If you
 find a bug or documentation error, or just find something unclear,
 please send a message to
 \code{string-sig@python.org}, and we'll fix it.}
@@ -53,7 +51,7 @@
 %Similarly, a backslash followed by a digit 0-7 should be doubled to
 %avoid interpretation as an octal escape.
 
-\subsection{Regular Expressions}
+\subsection{Regular Expression Syntax}
 
 A regular expression (or RE) specifies a set of strings that matches
 it; the functions in this module let you check if a particular string
@@ -92,9 +90,10 @@
 specified, this matches any character including a newline.
 \item[\code{\^}] (Caret.)  Matches the start of the string, and in
 \code{MULTILINE} mode also immediately after each newline.
-\item[\code{\$}] Matches the end of the string.  
+\item[\code{\$}] Matches the end of the string, and in
+\code{MULTILINE} mode also matches before a newline.
 \code{foo} matches both 'foo' and 'foobar', while the regular
-expression '\code{foo\$}' matches only 'foo'.
+expression \code{foo\$} matches only 'foo'.
 %
 \item[\code{*}] Causes the resulting RE to
 match 0 or more repetitions of the preceding RE, as many repetitions
@@ -130,17 +129,18 @@
 subsequent character are included in the resulting string.  However,
 if Python would recognize the resulting sequence, the backslash should
 be repeated twice.   This is complicated and hard to understand, so
-it's highly recommended that you use raw strings.
+it's highly recommended that you use raw strings for all but the simplest expressions.
 %
 \item[\code{[]}] Used to indicate a set of characters.  Characters can
-be listed individually, or a range is indicated by giving two
-characters and separating them by a '-'.  Special characters are not
-active inside sets.  For example, \code{[akm\$]} will match any of the
-characters 'a', 'k', 'm', or '\$'; \code{[a-z]} will match any
-lowercase letter and \code{[a-zA-Z0-9]} matches any letter or digit.
-Character classes of the form \code{\e \var{X}} defined below are also acceptable. 
-If you want to include a \code{]} or a \code{-} inside a
-set, precede it with a backslash. 
+be listed individually, or a range of characters can be indicated by
+giving two characters and separating them by a '-'.  Special
+characters are not active inside sets.  For example, \code{[akm\$]}
+will match any of the characters 'a', 'k', 'm', or '\$'; \code{[a-z]}
+will match any lowercase letter and \code{[a-zA-Z0-9]} matches any
+letter or digit.  Character classes such as \code{\e w} or \code {\e
+S} (defined below) are also acceptable inside a range.  If you want to
+include a \code{]} or a \code{-} inside a set, precede it with a
+backslash.
 
 Characters \emph{not} within a range can be matched by including a
 \code{\^} as the first character of the set; \code{\^} elsewhere will
@@ -151,11 +151,11 @@
 be used inside groups (see below) as well.  To match a literal '|', 
 use \code{\e|}, or enclose it inside a character class, like \code{[|]}.
 %
-\item[\code{(...)}] Matches whatever regular expression is inside the parentheses, and indicates the start and end of a group; the
-contents of a group can be retrieved after a match has been performed,
-and can be matched later in the string with the
-\code{\e \var{number}} special sequence, described below.  To match the
-literals '(' or ')', 
+\item[\code{(...)}] Matches whatever regular expression is inside the
+parentheses, and indicates the start and end of a group; the contents
+of a group can be retrieved after a match has been performed, and can
+be matched later in the string with the \code{\e \var{number}} special
+sequence, described below.  To match the literals '(' or ')', 
 use \code{\e(} or \code{\e)}, or enclose them inside a character
 class: \code{[(] [)]}.
 %
@@ -167,9 +167,9 @@
 \item[\code{(?iLmsx)}] (One or more letters from the set 'i', 'L', 'm', 's',
 'x'.) The group matches the empty string; the letters set the
 corresponding flags (re.I, re.L, re.M, re.S, re.X) for the entire regular
-expression.  (The flag 'L' is uppercase because it is not in standard Perl.)
-This is useful if you wish include the flags as part of the regular
-expression, instead of passing a \var{flag} argument to the \code{compile} function.
+expression.  This is useful if you wish include the flags as part of
+the regular expression, instead of passing a \var{flag} argument to
+the \code{compile} function. 
 %
 \item[\code{(?:...)}] A non-grouping version of regular parentheses.
 Matches whatever's inside the parentheses, but the text matched by the
@@ -183,12 +183,14 @@
 named.  So the group named 'id' in the example above can also be
 referenced as the numbered group 1.
 
-For example, if the pattern string is
-\code{r'(?P<id>[a-zA-Z_]\e w*)'}, the group can be referenced by its
+For example, if the pattern is
+\code{(?P<id>[a-zA-Z_]\e w*)}, the group can be referenced by its
 name in arguments to methods of match objects, such as \code{m.group('id')}
 or \code{m.end('id')}, and also by name in pattern text (e.g. \code{(?P=id)}) and
 replacement text (e.g. \code{\e g<id>}).
 %
+\item[\code{(?P=\var{name})}] Matches whatever text was matched by the earlier group named \var{name}.
+%
 \item[\code{(?\#...)}] A comment; the contents of the parentheses are simply ignored.
 %
 \item[\code{(?=...)}] Matches if \code{...} matches next, but doesn't consume any of the string.  This is called a lookahead assertion.  For example, 
@@ -203,8 +205,7 @@
 The special sequences consist of '\code{\e}' and a character from the
 list below.  If the ordinary character is not on the list, then the
 resulting RE will match the second character.  For example,
-\code{\e\$} matches the character '\$'.  Ones where the backslash
-should be doubled are indicated.
+\code{\e\$} matches the character '\$'.  
 
 \begin{itemize}
 
@@ -222,7 +223,9 @@
 \item[\code{\e b}] Matches the empty string, but only at the
 beginning or end of a word.  A word is defined as a sequence of
 alphanumeric characters, so the end of a word is indicated by
-whitespace or a non-alphanumeric character.  
+whitespace or a non-alphanumeric character.  Inside a character range,
+\code{\e b} represents the backspace character, for compatibility with
+Python's string literals.
 %
 \item[\code{\e B}] Matches the empty string, but only when it is
 \emph{not} at the beginning or end of a word.
@@ -274,35 +277,42 @@
 
 \begin{itemize}
 
-\item[I ] or IGNORECASE:
-Perform case-insensitive matching; expressions like [A-Z] will match
-lowercase letters, too.
+\item {I or IGNORECASE or \code{(?i)}}
 
-\item[L ] or LOCALE:
-Make \code{\e w}, \code{\e W}, \code{\e b}, \code{\e B}, dependent on
-the current locale.
+{Perform case-insensitive matching; expressions like \code{[A-Z]} will match
+lowercase letters, too.  This is not affected by the current locale.
+}
+\item {L or LOCALE or \code{(?L)}}
 
-\item[M ] or MULTILINE:
-When specified, the pattern character \code{\^} matches at the
-beginning of the string and at the beginning of each line (immediately
-following each newline); and the pattern character \code{\$} matches
-at the end of the string and at the end of each line (immediately
-preceding each newline).
+{Make \code{\e w}, \code{\e W}, \code{\e b},
+\code{\e B}, dependent on the current locale. 
+}
 
+\item {M or MULTILINE or \code{(?m)}}
+
+{When specified, the pattern character \code{\^} matches at the
+  beginning of the string and at the beginning of each line
+  (immediately following each newline); and the pattern character
+\code{\$} matches at the end of the string and at the end of each line
+(immediately preceding each newline).
 By default, \code{\^} matches only at the beginning of the string, and
 \code{\$} only at the end of the string and immediately before the
 newline (if any) at the end of the string. 
+}
 
-\item[S ] or DOTALL:
-Make the \code{.} special character match a newline; without this
-flag, \code{.} will match anything \emph{except} a newline.
+\item {S or DOTALL or \code{(?s)}}
 
-\item[X ] or VERBOSE:
-When specified, whitespace within the pattern string is ignored except
-when in a character class or preceded by an unescaped backslash, and,
-when a line contains a \code{\#} not in a character class or preceded
-by an unescaped backslash, all characters from the leftmost such
-\code{\#} through the end of the line are ignored.
+{Make the \code{.} special character any character at all, including a
+newline; without this flag, \code{.} will match anything \emph{except}
+a newline.} 
+
+\item {X or VERBOSE or \code{(?x)}}
+
+{Ignore whitespace within the pattern
+except when in a character class or preceded by an unescaped
+backslash, and, when a line contains a \code{\#} neither in a character
+class or preceded by an unescaped backslash, all characters from the
+leftmost such \code{\#} through the end of the line are ignored.  }
 
 \end{itemize}
 
@@ -319,8 +329,8 @@
 result = re.match(pat, str)
 \end{verbatim}\ecode
 %
-but the version using \code{compile()} is more efficient when multiple
-regular expressions are used concurrently in a single program.  
+but the version using \code{compile()} is more efficient when the
+expression will be used several times in a single program.
 %(The compiled version of the last pattern passed to \code{regex.match()} or
 %\code{regex.search()} is cached, so programs that use only a single
 %regular expression at a time needn't worry about compiling regular
@@ -328,9 +338,9 @@
 \end{funcdesc}
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{escape}{string}
-Return \var{string} with all non-alphanumerics backslashed; this is
-useful if you want to match some variable string which may have
-regular expression metacharacters in it.
+  Return \var{string} with all non-alphanumerics backslashed; this is
+  useful if you want to match an arbitrary literal string that may have
+  regular expression metacharacters in it.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{match}{pattern\, string\optional{\, flags}}
@@ -382,9 +392,9 @@
 \end{verbatim}\ecode
 %
 The pattern may be a string or a 
-regexp object; if you need to specify
-regular expression flags, you must use a regexp object, or use
-embedded modifiers in a pattern string; e.g.
+regex object; if you need to specify
+regular expression flags, you must use a regex object, or use
+embedded modifiers in a pattern; e.g.
 %
 \bcode\begin{verbatim}
 sub("(?i)b+", "x", "bbbb BBBB") returns 'x x'.
@@ -418,16 +428,14 @@
 \begin{funcdesc}{match}{string\optional{\, pos}\optional{\, endpos}}
   If zero or more characters at the beginning of \var{string} match
   this regular expression, return a corresponding
-  \code{Match} object.  Return \code{None} if the string does not
+  \code{MatchObject} instance.  Return \code{None} if the string does not
   match the pattern; note that this is different from a zero-length
   match.
   
   The optional second parameter \var{pos} gives an index in the string
-  where the search is to start; it defaults to \code{0}.  This is not
-  completely equivalent to slicing the string; the \code{'\^'} pattern
-  character matches at the real begin of the string and at positions
-  just after a newline, not necessarily at the index where the search
-  is to start.
+  where the search is to start; it defaults to \code{0}.  The
+  \code{'\^'} pattern character will match at the index where the
+  search is to start.
 
   The optional parameter \var{endpos} limits how far the string will
   be searched; it will be as if the string is \var{endpos} characters
@@ -441,8 +449,8 @@
   position in the string matches the pattern; note that this is
   different from finding a zero-length match at some point in the string.
   
-  The optional \var{pos} and \var{endpos} parameters have the same meaning as for the 
-  \code{match} method.
+  The optional \var{pos} and \var{endpos} parameters have the same
+  meaning as for the \code{match} method.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{split}{string\, \optional{, maxsplit=0}}
@@ -474,8 +482,8 @@
 The pattern string from which the regex object was compiled.
 \end{datadesc}
 
-\subsection{Match Objects}
-Match objects support the following methods and attributes:
+\subsection{MatchObjects}
+\code{Matchobject} instances support the following methods and attributes:
 
 \begin{funcdesc}{start}{group}
 \end{funcdesc}
@@ -504,23 +512,28 @@
 \code{(None, None)}.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
-\begin{funcdesc}{group}{\optional{g1, g2, ...})}
-This method is only valid when the last call to the \code{match}
-or \code{search} method found a match.  It returns one or more
-groups of the match.  If there is a single \var{index} argument,
-the result is a single string; if there are multiple arguments, the
-result is a tuple with one item per argument.  If the \var{index} is
-zero, the corresponding return value is the entire matching string; if
-it is in the inclusive range [1..99], it is the string matching the
-the corresponding parenthesized group (using the default syntax,
-groups are parenthesized using \code{\e (} and \code{\e )}).  If no
-such group exists, the corresponding result is \code{None}.
+\begin{funcdesc}{group}{\optional{g1, g2, ...}}
+Returns one or more groups of the match.  If there is a single
+\var{index} argument, the result is a single string; if there are
+multiple arguments, the result is a tuple with one item per argument.
+If the \var{index} is zero, the corresponding return value is the
+entire matching string; if it is in the inclusive range [1..99], it is
+the string matching the the corresponding parenthesized group.  If no
+such group exists, the corresponding result is
+\code{None}.
 
 If the regular expression uses the \code{(?P<\var{name}>...)} syntax,
 the \var{index} arguments may also be strings identifying groups by
 their group name.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
+\begin{funcdesc}{groups}{}
+Return a tuple containing all the subgroups of the match, from 1 up to
+however many groups are in the pattern.  Groups that did not
+participate in the match have values of \code{None}.  If the tuple
+would only be one element long, a string will be returned instead.  
+\end{funcdesc}
+
 \begin{datadesc}{pos}
 The value of \var{pos} which was passed to the
 \code{search} or \code{match} function.  This is the index into the
@@ -534,8 +547,8 @@
 \end{datadesc}
 
 \begin{datadesc}{re}
-The regular expression object whose match() or search() method
-produced this match object.
+The regular expression object whose \code{match()} or \code{search()} method
+produced this \code{MatchObject} instance.
 \end{datadesc}
 
 \begin{datadesc}{string}
@@ -545,4 +558,3 @@
 \begin{seealso}
 \seetext Jeffrey Friedl, \emph{Mastering Regular Expressions}.
 \end{seealso}
-