Rewriter uses the recursive feature to search to the end of the matched string pattern for the same pattern.
For example, when Rewriter parses the following string:
<a href="src=abc.jpg,src=bcd.jpg,src=xyz.jpg>
the rule
<Attribute name="href" valuePatterns="*src=**"/>
rewrites only the first occurrence of the pattern and it would look like this:
<a href="src=http://jane.sun.com/abc.jpg>
but if you use the recursive option as,
<Attribute name="href" valuePatterns="REC:*src=**"/>;
Rewriter searches to the end of the matched string pattern for the same pattern, hence the output would be:
<a href="src=http://jane.sun.com/abc.jpg,src=http://jane.sun.com/bcd.jpg,src=http://jane.sun.com/xyz.jpg>