Brace Expansion
       Brace expansion is a mechanism by which arbitrary strings may b
+e gener-
       ated.   This  mechanism is similar to pathname expansion, but t
+he file-
       names generated need not exist.  Patterns to be brace expanded 
+take the
       form of an optional preamble, followed by either a series of co
+mma-sep-
       arated strings or a sequence expression between a pair of brace
+s,  fol-
       lowed  by  an  optional  postscript.   The preamble is prefixed
+ to each
       string contained within the braces, and the postscript is then 
+appended
       to each resulting string, expanding left to right.

       Brace  expansions  may  be nested.  The results of each expande
+d string
       are not sorted;  left  to  right  order  is  preserved.   For  
+example,
       a{d,c,b}e expands into `ade ace abe'.

       A  sequence  expression takes the form {x..y}, where x and y ar
+e either
       integers or single characters.  When integers are supplied, the
+ expres-
       sion  expands  to each number between x and y, inclusive.  When
+ charac-
       ters are supplied, the expression expands  to  each  character 
+ lexico-
       graphically between x and y, inclusive.  Note that both x and y
+ must be
       of the same type.

       Brace expansion is performed before any other expansions, and a
+ny char-
       acters  special to other expansions are preserved in the result
+.  It is
       strictly textual.  Bash does not apply any syntactic interpreta
+tion  to
       the context of the expansion or the text between the braces.

       A  correctly-formed  brace  expansion must contain unquoted ope
+ning and
       closing braces, and at least one unquoted comma  or  a  valid  
+sequence
       expression.   Any incorrectly formed brace expansion is left un
+changed.
       A { or , may be quoted with a backslash to prevent its being co
+nsidered
       part  of  a brace expression.  To avoid conflicts with paramete
+r expan-
       sion, the string ${ is not considered eligible for brace expans
+ion.

       This construct is typically used as shorthand when the common p
+refix of
       the strings to be generated is longer than in the above example
+:

              mkdir /usr/local/src/bash/{old,new,dist,bugs}
       or
              chown root /usr/{ucb/{ex,edit},lib/{ex?.?*,how_ex}}

       Brace  expansion  introduces  a  slight incompatibility with hi
+storical
       versions of sh.  sh does not treat opening or closing braces  s
+pecially
       when  they  appear as part of a word, and preserves them in the
+ output.
       Bash removes braces from words as a  consequence  of  brace  ex
+pansion.
       For  example,  a word entered to sh as file{1,2} appears identi
+cally in
       the output.  The same word is output as file1 file2 after expan
+sion  by
       bash.   If strict compatibility with sh is desired, start bash 
+with the
       +B option or disable brace expansion with the +B option to the 
+set com-
       mand (see SHELL BUILTIN COMMANDS below).
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