#Keep updating an array to be the expansion of a file pattern to
    #separate files
    my @expanded = ($nospace_string);

    #If there exists a '{X,Y,...}' pattern in the string
    if($nospace_string =~ /(?<!\\)\{.+?(?<!\\)\}/)
      {
	#While the first element still has a '{X,Y,...}' pattern
	#(assuming everything else has the same pattern structure)
	while($expanded[0] =~ /(?<!\\)\{.+?(?<!\\)\}/)
	  {
	    #Accumulate replaced file patterns in @g
	    my @buffer = ();
	    foreach my $str (@expanded)
	      {
		#If there's a '{X,Y,...}' pattern, split on ','
		if($str =~ /(?<!\\)\{(.+?)(?<!\\)\}/)
		  {
		    my $substr     = $1;
		    my $before     = $`;
		    my $after      = $';
		    my @expansions = split(/,/,$substr);
		    push(@buffer,map {$before . $_ . $after} @expansions);
		  }
		#Otherwise, push on the whole string
		else
		  {push(@buffer,$str)}
	      }

	    #Reset @f with the newly expanded file strings so that we
	    #can handle additional '{X,Y,...}' patterns
	    @expanded = @buffer;
	  }
      }

    #Pass the newly expanded file strings through
    return(wantarray ? @expanded : [@expanded]);