+/// Converts a host OS style path to a unicode safe unix style.
+/// On Windows, this is achieved by using the short form of the path,
+/// which can be safely passed to standard I/O functions expecting narrow
+/// char paths even when the path contains non-ascii chars.
+/// As the short form is only available for existing files, if the file is
+/// to be accessed for writing, \param how should be set to CREATE.
+/// \p p and the return value are encoded in utf8.
+std::string safe_internal_path(std::string const & p, file_access how = EXISTING);
+
+/// Converts a unix style path list to host OS style.
+/// \p p and the return value are encoded in utf8.
+std::string external_path_list(std::string const & p);
+
+/// Converts a host OS style path list to unix style.
+/// \p p and the return value are encoded in utf8.
+std::string internal_path_list(std::string const & p);
+
+/**
+ * Converts a unix style path into a form suitable for inclusion in a LaTeX
+ * document.
+ * \p p is encoded in utf8.
+ * Caution: This function handles only the OS specific part of that task.
+ * Never use it directly, use lyx::support::latex_path instead.
+ */
+std::string latex_path(std::string const & p);
+
+/**
+ * Converts a platform style path list into a form suitable for the TeX engine.
+ * \p p is encoded in utf8.
+ */
+std::string latex_path_list(std::string const & p);