me wonders why someone wouldn't just use File::PathConvert to convert relative paths to absolute, resolve symlinks, AND handle cross platform portability...

Uh, the part in the middle was the hard part. {grin}

Your code uses an alteration of the working directory, which is a strategy I considered (and had used in similar programs). Your code also breaks (quickly {grin}) on paths containing newline, my favorite pet peeve. Remember those /s modifiers!

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker