code: def get_file_list(shortFile):
      
      if "://" in shortFile: # seems to be a URL
          return [shortFile]
  
      # expand tilde and variables
      expandedFile = os.path.expandvars(os.path.expanduser(shortFile))
  
      # expand wildcards
      fileList = glob.glob(expandedFile)
  
      # sort alphabetical,
      # if list is emtpy, sorting returns None, so better do not sort
      if len(fileList) != 0:
          fileList.sort()
      else:
          logging.warning("No file matches '%s'.", shortFile)
  
      return fileList
docs: The function get_file_list expands a short filename to a sorted list
      of filenames. The short filename can contain variables and wildcards.