This very helpful answer led me to define my own starred commands. However, in order to use my commands in, for example, headings, after a round of strange almost frightening thoughts, I managed to arrive at the following (MWE):
\documentclass{article}\makeatletter\def\testone{\@ifstar\@dothis\@@dothat}\def\testtwo{\protect\@ifstar\protect\@dothis\protect\@@dothat}\def\@dothis#1{#1}\def\@@dothat#1{#1}\makeatother\begin{document}\section{\testone{abc}} % does not work\testone{abc} % works\section{\testtwo{abc}} % works\testtwo{abc} % works\end{document}I am still struggling to percolate TeX's expansion mechanisms and, hence, would be thankful for an answer about why my definition \test... requires these \protects to work in headings? Thanks.