diff --git a/qse/include/qse/fs/path.h b/qse/include/qse/fs/path.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5d7e0488
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qse/include/qse/fs/path.h
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * $Id
+ *
+    Copyright 2006-2011 Chung, Hyung-Hwan.
+    This file is part of QSE.
+
+    QSE is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as 
+    published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of 
+    the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+    QSE is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public 
+    License along with QSE. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef _QSE_FS_PATH_H_
+#define _QSE_FS_PATH_H_
+
+#include <qse/types.h>
+#include <qse/macros.h>
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+qse_size_t qse_canonpath (
+	const qse_char_t* path,
+	qse_char_t*       canon
+);
+
+qse_size_t qse_realpath (
+	const qse_char_t* path,
+	qse_char_t* real
+);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif
diff --git a/qse/lib/fs/path.c b/qse/lib/fs/path.c
index 29add38c..b401bb25 100644
--- a/qse/lib/fs/path.c
+++ b/qse/lib/fs/path.c
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@
     License along with QSE. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  */
 
-#include <qse/types.h>
-#include <qse/macros.h>
-/*#include <qse/fs/path.h>*/
+#include <qse/fs/path.h>
 
 #if defined(_WIN32) || defined(__OS2__) || defined(__DOS__)
 #	define ISSEP(c) ((c) == QSE_T('/') || (c) == QSE_T('\\'))
@@ -30,23 +28,37 @@
 
 #define ISSEPNIL(c) (ISSEP(c) || ((c) == QSE_T('\0')))
 
-int qse_canonpath (const qse_char_t* path)
+qse_size_t qse_canonpath (const qse_char_t* path, qse_char_t* canon)
 {
 	const qse_char_t* ptr;
 	qse_char_t* dst;
-	qse_char_t* root = QSE_NULL;
-
-/* TODO: delete this. */
-	qse_char_t* buf = malloc (10000);
+	qse_char_t* non_root_start;
+	int has_root = 0;
 
 	ptr = path;
-	dst = buf;
+	dst = canon;
 
-	if (ISSEP(*ptr))
+#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(__OS2__) || defined(__DOS__)
+	if (((ptr[0] >= QSE_T('A') && ptr[0] <= QSE_T('Z')) ||
+	     (ptr[0] >= QSE_T('a') && ptr[0] <= QSE_T('z'))) &&
+	    ptr[1] == QSE_T(':'))
 	{
-		*dst++ = *ptr++;
+		/* handle drive letter */
+		*dst++ = *ptr++; /* drive letter */
+		*dst++ = *ptr++; /* colon */
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+		if (ISSEP(*ptr)) 
+		{
+			*dst++ = *ptr++; /* root directory */
+			has_root = 1;
+		}
+	}
+	else if (ISSEP(*ptr)) 
+	{
+		*dst++ = *ptr++; /* root directory */
+		has_root = 1;
+
+	#if defined(_WIN32)
 		/* handle UNC path */
 		if (ISSEP(*ptr)) 
 		{
@@ -55,18 +67,29 @@ int qse_canonpath (const qse_char_t* path)
 			/* if it starts with \\, process host name */
 			while (!ISSEPNIL(*ptr)) *dst++ = *ptr++;
 
-			/* \ following the host name */
+			/* \ following the host name. note that
+			 * \\\ is treated as if the host name is empty. */
+
 			if (ISSEP(*ptr)) *dst++ = *ptr++;
 		}
+	#endif
+	}
+#else
+	if (ISSEP(*ptr)) 
+	{
+		*dst++ = *ptr++; /* root directory */
+		has_root = 1;
+	}
 #endif
-	}	
 
-	root = dst;
+	/* non_root_start points to the beginning of the canonicalized 
+	 * path excluding the root directory part. */
+	non_root_start = dst;
 
 	do
 	{
 		const qse_char_t* seg;
-		qse_size_t len;
+		qse_size_t seglen;
 
 		/* skip duplicate separators */
 		while (ISSEP(*ptr)) ptr++;
@@ -74,54 +97,87 @@ int qse_canonpath (const qse_char_t* path)
 		/* end of path reached */
 		if (*ptr == QSE_T('\0')) break;
 
+		/* find the next segment */
 		seg = ptr;
 		while (!ISSEPNIL(*ptr)) ptr++;
+		seglen = ptr - seg;
 
-		len = ptr - seg;
-		if (len == 1 && seg[0] == QSE_T('.'))
+		/* handle the segment */
+		if (seglen == 1 && seg[0] == QSE_T('.'))
 		{
 			/* eat up . */
 		}
-		else if (len == 2 && seg[0] == QSE_T('.') && seg[1] == QSE_T('.'))
+		else if (seglen == 2 && seg[0] == QSE_T('.') && seg[1] == QSE_T('.'))
 		{
 			/* eat up the previous segment */
-			/*if (!root) goto normal;*/
-			const qse_char_t* tmp;
+			qse_char_t* tmp;
 
 			tmp = dst;
-			if (tmp > root) tmp--;
-			while (tmp > root)
+			if (tmp > non_root_start) 
 			{
-				tmp--;
-				if (ISSEP(*tmp)) break;
+				/* there is a previous segment. */
+
+				tmp--; /* skip the separator just before .. */
+
+				/* find the beginning of the previous segment */
+				while (tmp > non_root_start)
+				{
+					tmp--;
+					if (ISSEP(*tmp)) 
+					{
+						tmp++; /* position it next to the separator */
+						break; 
+					}
+				}
 			}
 
-			if (root > buf)
+			if (has_root)
 			{
-				/* mean that the path contains the root directory */
+				/*
+				 * Eat up the previous segment if it exists.
+				 *
+				 * If it doesn't exist, tmp == dst so dst = tmp keeps dst
+				 * unchanged. If it exists, tmp != dst. so dst = tmp 
+				 * changes dst.
+				 *
+				 * path  /abc/def/..
+				 *                ^ ^
+				 *              seg ptr
+				 *
+				 * canon /abc/def/
+				 *            ^   ^   
+				 *           tmp dst
+				 */
 				dst = tmp;
-				if (tmp == root) tmp++;
 			}
 			else
 			{
-				if (tmp == root) goto normal;		
+				qse_size_t prevlen;
 
-				if (dst - tmp == 3 && 
-				    tmp[0] == QSE_T('.') && tmp[1] == QSE_T('.')) 
+				prevlen = dst - tmp;
+
+				if (/*tmp == non_root_start &&*/ prevlen == 0)
 				{
-					/* the previous segment ../ */
-					goto normal;
+					/* there is no previous segment */
+					goto normal;		
 				}
-				if (dst - tmp == 4 && 
-				    ISSEP(tmp[0]) &&
-				    tmp[1] == QSE_T('.') && 
-				    tmp[2] == QSE_T('.')) 
+
+				if (prevlen == 3 && tmp[0] == QSE_T('.') && tmp[1] == QSE_T('.')) 
 				{
-					/* the previous segment is /../ */
+					/* nothing to eat away because the previous segment is ../
+					 *
+					 * path  ../../
+					 *          ^ ^
+					 *        seg ptr
+					 *
+					 * canon ../
+					 *       ^  ^
+					 *      tmp dst
+					 */
 					goto normal;
 				}
 
-				dst = tmp + 1;
+				dst = tmp;
 			}
 		}
 		else
@@ -133,6 +189,32 @@ int qse_canonpath (const qse_char_t* path)
 	}
 	while (1);
 
-	*dst++ = QSE_T('\0');	
-	return buf;
+	if (dst > non_root_start && ISSEP(dst[-1]) && !ISSEP(ptr[-1])) 
+	{
+		/* if the canoncal path composed so far ends with a separator
+		 * and the original path didn't end with the separator, delete
+		 * the ending separator.
+		 *
+		 *   dst > non_root_start:
+		 *     there is at least 1 character after the root directory part.
+		 *   ISSEP(dst[-1]):
+		 *     the canonical path ends with a separator.
+		 *   ISSEP(ptr[-1]):
+		 *     the origial path ends with a separator
+		 */
+		dst[-1] = QSE_T('\0');
+		return dst - canon - 1;
+	}
+	else 
+	{
+		/* just null-terminate the canonical path normally */
+		dst[0] = QSE_T('\0');	
+		return dst - canon;
+	}
+}
+
+qse_size_t qse_realpath (const qse_char_t* path, qse_char_t* real)
+{
+/* TODO: canonicalize path with symbolic links resolved */
+	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/qse/samples/fs/path01.c b/qse/samples/fs/path01.c
index 006c1b23..f9f522a6 100644
--- a/qse/samples/fs/path01.c
+++ b/qse/samples/fs/path01.c
@@ -2,16 +2,30 @@
 #include <qse/fs/dir.h>
 #include <qse/cmn/stdio.h>
 #include <qse/cmn/main.h>
+#include <qse/cmn/str.h>
+#include <qse/cmn/mem.h>
 
 int path_main (int argc, qse_char_t* argv[])
 {
+	qse_char_t* canon;
+	qse_size_t len;
+
 	if (argc != 2)
 	{
 		qse_fprintf (QSE_STDERR, QSE_T("Usage: %s <directory>\n"), argv[0]);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	qse_printf (QSE_T("[%s] => [%s]\n"), argv[1], qse_canonpath (argv[1]));
+	canon = QSE_MMGR_ALLOC (QSE_MMGR_GETDFL(), (qse_strlen(argv[1]) + 1) * QSE_SIZEOF(*canon));
+	if (canon == QSE_NULL)
+	{
+		qse_fprintf (QSE_STDERR, QSE_T("Error: out of memory\n"));
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	len = qse_canonpath (argv[1], canon);
+	qse_printf (QSE_T("[%s] => [%s] %d chars\n"), argv[1], canon, (int)len);
+	QSE_MMGR_FREE (QSE_MMGR_GETDFL(), canon);
 	return 0;
 }