diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index 2c8a045a7..98e8e0fd5 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -179,6 +179,11 @@ Other changes:
 
 * New task <sync> that synchronizes two directory trees.
 
+* <apply> has new forwardslash attribute that can force filenames to
+  use forward slashes (/) as file separators even on platforms with a
+  different separator.  This is useful if you want to run certain
+  ported Unix tools.
+
 Changes from Ant 1.5.2 to Ant 1.5.3
 ===================================
 
diff --git a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/apply.html b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/apply.html
index 92d845a0d..78e025cf2 100644
--- a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/apply.html
+++ b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/apply.html
@@ -57,6 +57,14 @@ one mapper.</p>
       the <i>dest</i> attribute for target files).</td>
     <td align="center" valign="top">No, default is <i>false</i></td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">forwardslash</td>
+    <td valign="top">whether the absolute file names should be passed
+      with forward slashes even if the operating system requires other
+      file separator. The option is ignored if the system file separator
+      is a forward slash.</td>
+    <td align="center" valign="top">No, default is <i>false</i></td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">os</td>
     <td valign="top">list of Operating Systems on which the command may be
@@ -220,7 +228,7 @@ of all files separated by spaces.</p>
 <code>.o</code>, replacing TARGETFILE with the absolute filename of
 the <code>.o</code> and SOURCEFILE with the absolute name of the
 <code>.c</code> file.</p>
-<hr><p align="center">Copyright &copy; 2000-2002 Apache Software Foundation. All rights
+<hr><p align="center">Copyright &copy; 2000-2003 Apache Software Foundation. All rights
 Reserved.</p>
 
 </body>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/ExecuteOn.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/ExecuteOn.java
index 2cc3cc207..4ee472c22 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/ExecuteOn.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/ExecuteOn.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * The Apache Software License, Version 1.1
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2000-2002 The Apache Software Foundation.  All rights 
+ * Copyright (c) 2000-2003 The Apache Software Foundation.  All rights 
  * reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ public class ExecuteOn extends ExecTask {
     protected Vector filesets = new Vector();
     private boolean relative = false;
     private boolean parallel = false;
+    private boolean forwardSlash = false;
     protected String type = "file";
     protected Commandline.Marker srcFilePos = null;
     private boolean skipEmpty = false;
@@ -144,6 +145,14 @@ public class ExecuteOn extends ExecTask {
         this.destDir = destDir;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * The source and target file names on Windows and OS/2 must use
+     * forward slash as file separator.
+     */
+    public void setForwardslash(boolean forwardSlash) {
+        this.forwardSlash = forwardSlash;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Marker that indicates where the name of the source file should
      * be put on the command line.
@@ -284,6 +293,7 @@ public class ExecuteOn extends ExecTask {
      * @param baseDir filenames are relative to this dir
      */
     protected String[] getCommandline(String[] srcFiles, File[] baseDirs) {
+        final char fileSeparator = File.separatorChar;
         Vector targets = new Vector();
         if (targetFilePos != null) {
             Hashtable addedFiles = new Hashtable();
@@ -297,6 +307,9 @@ public class ExecuteOn extends ExecTask {
                         } else {
                             name = subTargets[j];
                         }
+                        if (forwardSlash && fileSeparator != '/') {
+                            name = name.replace(fileSeparator, '/');
+                        }
                         if (!addedFiles.contains(name)) {
                             targets.addElement(name);
                             addedFiles.put(name, name);
@@ -380,6 +393,10 @@ public class ExecuteOn extends ExecTask {
             } else {
                 result[srcIndex + i] = srcFiles[i];
             }
+            if (forwardSlash && fileSeparator != '/') {
+                result[srcIndex + i] = 
+                    result[srcIndex + i].replace(fileSeparator, '/');
+            }
         }
         return result;
     }