Info Catalog flex: Why doesn't yyrestart() set the start state back to INITIAL? flex: FAQ flex: The period isn't working the way I expected

flex: How can I match C-style comments?

 
 How can I match C-style comments?
 =================================
 
 You might be tempted to try something like this:
 
      "/*".*"*/"       // WRONG!
 
    or, worse, this:
 
      "/*"(.|\n)"*/"   // WRONG!
 
    The above rules will eat too much input, and blow up on things like:
 
      /* a comment */ do_my_thing( "oops */" );
 
    Here is one way which allows you to track line information:
 
      <INITIAL>{
      "/*"              BEGIN(IN_COMMENT);
      }
      <IN_COMMENT>{
      "*/"      BEGIN(INITIAL);
      [^*\n]+   // eat comment in chunks
      "*"       // eat the lone star
      \n        yylineno++;
      }
 

Info Catalog flex: Why doesn't yyrestart() set the start state back to INITIAL? flex: FAQ flex: The period isn't working the way I expected