docs: private String normalize(String alias) {
          // replace all the '.'s to '\.'s
          String regExp = alias.replaceAll("[\\.]", "\\\\\\.");
  
          // replace all the '*'s to '.*'s
          regExp = regExp.replaceAll("[*]", "\\.\\*");
  
          // System.out.println("Normalized "+alias+" to "+regExp);
  
          return regExp;
      }