sL formatWithFragmentsAndDollarSymVars_asList(S starPattern, O... args) {
  LS tok = javaTok(starPattern);
  int iArg = 0, i = 1;
  new L out;
  while (i < l(tok)) {
    int j = smartIndexOfAsteriskOrDollarVar(tok, i);
    if (j > i)
      out.add(Fragment(joinSubList(tok, i, j-1)));
    if (j < l(tok)) {
      S t = tok.get(j);
      if (eq(t, "*"))
        out.add(get(args, iArg++));
      else
        out.add(SymVar(t));
    }
    i = j+2;
  }
  ret out;
}

Began life as a copy of #1027879