Hmmm, I think you're talking about this: 
$ ls -a
.  ..
$ touch a_file
$ ls -a
.  ..  a_file
$ echo a_*
a_file
$ echo b_*
b_*

[download]
This is how shells (or at least Bash) expand globs... if the glob can't be expanded it remains as is. There is a nullglob option in the shell that can fix that...
Is my only choice to stick that exact same directory listing into a var and look for that pattern and remove it ?
Yeah, 'remove' sounds good.

In reply to Re: Detect * in arguments by Anonymous Monk
in thread Detect * in arguments by sans-clue

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