question about kleene-star

[Manoj Rajagopalan]

Hi all,

   According to the kleene-star documentation, it is an operator that 
grants greater priority to transitions within the machine and hence aims 
for the longest match. While I can see its utility in deciding between 
pattern-alternates, how is it to be used on a single-string?

   To be more clear, suppose I want to match the longest string of 
lower-case characters at least one character long. Should I use "lower 
lower**" or "(lower+)**". In other words, is the ** a qualifier to an 
existing expression or is it an operator by itself?

Thanks,
Manoj