Dir with wildcard returning unexpected result

[varianjv]

Hi there,
I have a lot of files in a folder

I run the following to get a subset

dir /b pa1*.txt

I would expect this to bring back only files like

pa1.txt
pa11.txt etc

However it also brings back files like
pay1.txt

Any reason for this does any one know

[Squashman]

It is matching the short file names. 8.3.
Run the DIR command from a command prompt and use the /X option to see what I mean.

[varianjv]

I'm not using the short name format.
I tried with the /X and i still get filenames I dont want

[Squashman]

I'm not using the short name format.
I tried with the /X and i still get filenames I dont want

Never said you were using short file names nor did I say using /X would solve your problem. I am saying the default behavior is that the WILDCARD will also match short file names.

The EXAMPLE your provided does not output what you say it does because the file names you provided are already in 8.3 format. Don't ever post an example without testing it first.

Go back to the directory that you are having problems with. When you run the DIR command with the /X option you should see that the short file names are matching your search mask.

[varianjv]

Sorry
I understand what you mean now.
Can I exclude these?