List expansion in a 'for in' control structure

[Till Halbach]

Configuration Information:
Machine: i386
OS: linux-gnu
Compiler: gcc
Compilation CFLAGS:  -DPROGRAM='bash' -DCONF_HOSTTYPE='i386'  
-DCONF_OSTYPE='linux-gnu' -DCONF_MACHTYPE='i386-pc-linux-gnu'  
-DCONF_VENDOR='pc' -DSHELL -DHAVE_CONFIG_H  -I.  -I../bash  
-I../bash/include -I../bash/lib  -g -O2
uname output: Linux pc052 2.4.27-1-386 #1 Fri Sep 3 06:24:46 UTC 2004 i686  
GNU/Linux
Machine Type: i386-pc-linux-gnu

Bash Version: 2.05b
Patch Level: 0
Release Status: release

Description:
The bash manual for the control structure 'for name [ in word ] ; do list  
; done' says:
'The list of words following in is expanded, generating a  list  of  
items.' However, if no files are found, it is set equal to the query  
string.

Repeat-By:
Assume you have a directory with some files beginning with 'a' and none  
beginning with 'z'.
> for file in a*.html; do echo $file; done
abbr.html
acronym.html
address.html
a.html
applet.html
> for file in z*.html; do echo $file; done
z*.html

Fix:
If no files are found, the list of words (represented by word in the  
command description above) should expand to a zero-element array, but not  
to the word itself.

BR,
Till