diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/AntClassLoader.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/AntClassLoader.java
index 5eec9fa6c..b54e166ab 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/AntClassLoader.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/AntClassLoader.java
@@ -152,14 +152,18 @@ public class AntClassLoader  extends ClassLoader {
             URL url = null;
             while ((this.pathElementsIndex < this.pathElements.length) &&
                    (url == null)) {
-                File pathComponent = AntClassLoader.this.project.resolveFile(
-                    (String)this.pathElements[this.pathElementsIndex]);
-                url = getResourceURL(pathComponent, this.resourceName);
-                this.pathElementsIndex++;
+                try {                       
+                    File pathComponent = AntClassLoader.this.project.resolveFile(
+                        (String)this.pathElements[this.pathElementsIndex]);
+                    url = getResourceURL(pathComponent, this.resourceName);
+                    this.pathElementsIndex++;
+                }
+                catch (BuildException e) {
+                    // ignore path elements which are not valid relative to the project
+                }
             }
             this.nextResource = url;
         }
-
     }
 
     /**
@@ -386,8 +390,13 @@ public class AntClassLoader  extends ClassLoader {
  
         String[] pathElements = classpath.list();
         for (int i = 0; i < pathElements.length && stream == null; ++i) {
-            File pathComponent = project.resolveFile((String)pathElements[i]);
-            stream = getResourceStream(pathComponent, name);
+            try {
+                File pathComponent = project.resolveFile((String)pathElements[i]);
+                stream = getResourceStream(pathComponent, name);
+            }
+            catch {BuildException e) {
+                // ignore path elements which are invalid relative to the project
+            }
         }
 
         return stream;
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
index d2ef9d989..08bbe5259 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ public class Project {
             if (part.equals("..")) {
                 String parentFile = file.getParent();
                 if (parentFile == null) {
-                    throw new BuildException("The file or path you specified (" + fileName + ") is invalid releative to " + rootDir.getAbsolutePath());
+                    throw new BuildException("The file or path you specified (" + fileName + ") is invalid relative to " + rootDir.getAbsolutePath());
                 }
                 file = new File(parentFile);
             } else if (part.equals(".")) {
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/GZip.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/GZip.java
index bc0658978..d70dfcc4c 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/GZip.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/GZip.java
@@ -72,12 +72,12 @@ public class GZip extends Task {
     private File zipFile;
     private File source;
     
-    public void setZipfile(String zipFilename) {
-        zipFile = project.resolveFile(zipFilename);
+    public void setZipfile(File zipFilename) {
+        zipFile = zipFilename;
     }
 
-    public void setSrc(String src) {
-        source = project.resolveFile(src);
+    public void setSrc(File src) {
+        source = src;
     }
 
     public void execute() throws BuildException {
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/KeySubst.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/KeySubst.java
index 5d3486bb4..39733aea1 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/KeySubst.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/KeySubst.java
@@ -115,15 +115,15 @@ public class KeySubst extends Task {
     /**
         Set the source file.
     */
-    public void setSrc(String s) {
-        this.source=project.resolveFile(s);
+    public void setSrc(File s) {
+        this.source = s;
     }
 
     /**
         Set the destination file.
     */
-    public void setDest(String dest) {
-        this.dest = project.resolveFile(dest);
+    public void setDest(File dest) {
+        this.dest = dest;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Rename.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Rename.java
index db1fa03d9..82eff388b 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Rename.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Rename.java
@@ -77,16 +77,16 @@ public class Rename extends Task {
      * Sets the file to be renamed.
      * @param src the file to rename
      */
-    public void setSrc(String src) {
-        this.src = project.resolveFile(src);
+    public void setSrc(File src) {
+        this.src = src;
     }
 
     /**
      * Sets the new name of the file.
      * @param dest the new name of the file.
      */
-    public void setDest(String dest) {
-        this.dest = project.resolveFile(dest);
+    public void setDest(File dest) {
+        this.dest = dest;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Replace.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Replace.java
index 5a32648bf..ff0cd0f29 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Replace.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Replace.java
@@ -411,8 +411,8 @@ public class Replace extends MatchingTask {
     /**
      * Sets a file to be searched for property values.
      */
-    public void setPropertyFile(String filename) {
-        propertyFile = project.resolveFile(filename);
+    public void setPropertyFile(File filename) {
+        propertyFile = filename;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Untar.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Untar.java
index 0dcf65451..59beecad4 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Untar.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Untar.java
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ import java.io.*;
  * @author <a href="mailto:stefan.bodewig@epost.de">Stefan Bodewig</a>
  */
 public class Untar extends Task {
-    private String dest; // req
-    private String source; // req
+    private File dest; // req
+    private File source; // req
 
     /**
      * Do the work.
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ public class Untar extends Task {
         touch.setTaskName(getTaskName());
         touch.setLocation(getLocation());
                     
-        File srcF=project.resolveFile(source);
+        File srcF = source;
 
         TarInputStream tis = null;
         try {
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public class Untar extends Task {
             if (dest == null) {
                 throw new BuildException("No destination specified", location);
             }
-            File dir=project.resolveFile(dest);
+            File dir = dest;
 
             log("Expanding: " + srcF + " into " + dir, Project.MSG_INFO);
             tis = new TarInputStream(new FileInputStream(srcF));
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ public class Untar extends Task {
      *
      * @param d Path to the directory.
      */
-    public void setDest(String d) {
-        this.dest=d;
+    public void setDest(File d) {
+        this.dest = d;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ public class Untar extends Task {
      *
      * @param s Path to tar-file.
      */
-    public void setSrc(String s) {
+    public void setSrc(File s) {
         this.source = s;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/Javah.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/Javah.java
index 3813295a0..ac84408ee 100755
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/Javah.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/Javah.java
@@ -433,35 +433,5 @@ public class Javah extends Task {
 
         log(prefix.toString() + niceClassList.toString(), Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
     }
-
-    ///**
-    // * Emulation of extdirs feature in java >= 1.2.
-    // * This method adds all files in the given
-    // * directories (but not in sub-directories!) to the classpath,
-    // * so that you don't have to specify them all one by one.
-    // * @param classpath - Path to append files to
-    // */
-    //protected void addExtdirsToClasspath(Path classpath) {
-    //    if (extdirs == null) {
-    //        String extProp = System.getProperty("java.ext.dirs");
-    //        if (extProp != null) {
-    //            extdirs = new Path(project, extProp);
-    //        } else {
-    //            return;
-    //        }
-    //    }
-    //
-    //    String[] dirs = extdirs.list();
-    //    for (int i=0; i<dirs.length; i++) {
-    //        if (!dirs[i].endsWith(File.separator)) {
-    //            dirs[i] += File.separator;
-    //        }
-    //        File dir = project.resolveFile(dirs[i]);
-    //        FileSet fs = new FileSet();
-    //        fs.setDir(dir);
-    //        fs.setIncludes("*");
-    //        classpath.addFileset(fs);
-    //    }
-    //}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/NetRexxC.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/NetRexxC.java
index 4af0a029d..65fd909a0 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/NetRexxC.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/NetRexxC.java
@@ -221,8 +221,8 @@ public class NetRexxC extends MatchingTask {
      * Set the destination directory into which the NetRexx source
      * files should be copied and then compiled.
      */
-    public void setDestDir(String destDirName) {
-        destDir = project.resolveFile(destDirName);
+    public void setDestDir(File destDirName) {
+        destDir = destDirName;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -308,8 +308,8 @@ public class NetRexxC extends MatchingTask {
     /**
      * Set the source dir to find the source Java files.
      */
-    public void setSrcDir(String srcDirName) {
-        srcDir = project.resolveFile(srcDirName);
+    public void setSrcDir(File srcDirName) {
+        srcDir = srcDirName;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/CSharp.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/CSharp.java
index d0cc82645..921bc733e 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/CSharp.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/CSharp.java
@@ -388,8 +388,8 @@ public class CSharp
     /** file for generated XML documentation
      * @param f output file
      */
-    public void setDocFile(String f) {
-        _docFile=project.resolveFile(f);
+    public void setDocFile(File f) {
+        _docFile = f;
     }
             
     /** get the argument or null for no argument needed
@@ -526,8 +526,8 @@ public class CSharp
      * Set the source dir to find the files to be compiled
      * @param  srcDirName  The new SrcDir value 
      */
-    public void setSrcDir(String srcDirName){
-        _srcDir = project.resolveFile(srcDirName);
+    public void setSrcDir(File srcDirName){
+        _srcDir = srcDirName;
     }
     
     /** destination directory (null means use the source directory)
@@ -539,8 +539,8 @@ public class CSharp
      * Set the destination dir to find the files to be compiled
      * @param  dirName  The new DestDir value 
      */
-    public void setDestDir(String dirName) {
-        _destDir = project.resolveFile(dirName);
+    public void setDestDir(File dirName) {
+        _destDir = dirName;
     }
     
     /** type of target. Should be one of exe|library|module|winexe|(null)
@@ -593,8 +593,8 @@ public class CSharp
      * Set the win32 icon 
      * @param fileName path to the file. Can be relative, absolute, whatever.
      */
-    public void setWin32Icon(String fileName) {
-        _win32icon = project.resolveFile(fileName);
+    public void setWin32Icon(File fileName) {
+        _win32icon = fileName;
     }
     
     /**
@@ -660,22 +660,22 @@ public class CSharp
     /** output file. If not supplied this is derived from the
      *  source file
      */    
-    protected String _outputFile;
+    protected File _outputFile;
     
     /**
      * Set the definitions
      * @param list of definitions split by ; or , or even :
      */
-    public void setOutputFile(String params) {
-        _outputFile=params;
+    public void setOutputFile(File params) {
+        _outputFile = params;
     }
     
     /** get the argument or null for no argument needed
     * @return    The OutputFile Parameter to CSC 
     */
     protected String getOutputFileParameter() {
-        if (notEmpty(_outputFile)) {
-            File f=project.resolveFile(_outputFile);
+        if (_outputFile != null) {
+            File f = _outputFile;
             return "/out:"+f.toString();
         }
         else            
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/Ilasm.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/Ilasm.java
index e8b0a86f4..cb8d8bc4a 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/Ilasm.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/dotnet/Ilasm.java
@@ -160,8 +160,8 @@ public class Ilasm
      * Set the source dir to find the files to be compiled
      * @param  srcDirName  The new SrcDir value 
      */
-    public void setSrcDir(String srcDirName){
-        _srcDir = project.resolveFile(srcDirName);
+    public void setSrcDir(File srcDirName){
+        _srcDir = srcDirName;
     }
     
 
@@ -293,15 +293,14 @@ public class Ilasm
      * output file. If not supplied this is derived from the
      *  source file
      */
-     
-    protected String _outputFile;
+    protected File _outputFile;
     
     /**
      * Set the definitions
      * @param list of definitions split by ; or , or even :
      */
-    public void setOutputFile(String params) {
-        _outputFile=params;
+    public void setOutputFile(File params) {
+        _outputFile = params;
     }
     
     /**
@@ -311,7 +310,7 @@ public class Ilasm
     protected String getOutputFileParameter() {
         if (_outputFile==null || _outputFile.length()==0)
             return null;
-        File f=project.resolveFile(_outputFile);
+        File f = _outputFile;
         return "/output="+f.toString();
     }
     
@@ -322,8 +321,8 @@ public class Ilasm
     /**
      * Set the resource file 
      * @param fileName path to the file. Can be relative, absolute, whatever.
-     */public void setResourceFile(String fileName) {
-        _resourceFile = project.resolveFile(fileName);
+     */public void setResourceFile(File fileName) {
+        _resourceFile = fileName;
     }
         
     protected String getResourceFileParameter() {