diff --git a/src/common/pathTools.cpp b/src/common/pathTools.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..424d64983
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/pathTools.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 Emmanuel Engelhart <kelson@kiwix.org>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU  General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+ * any later version.
+ *
+ * This program 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 General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
+ * MA 02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+
+#include "pathTools.h"
+
+const char *nsStringToCString(const nsAString &str) {
+  const char *cStr;
+  nsCString tmpStr;
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  LossyCopyUTF16toASCII(str, tmpStr):
+#else
+  CopyUTF16toUTF8(str, tmpStr);
+#endif
+
+  NS_CStringGetData(tmpStr, &cStr);
+  return cStr;
+}
diff --git a/src/common/pathTools.h b/src/common/pathTools.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9713d4fcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/pathTools.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 Emmanuel Engelhart <kelson@kiwix.org>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU  General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+ * any later version.
+ *
+ * This program 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 General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
+ * MA 02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef KIWIX_PATHTOOLS_H
+#define KIWIX_PATHTOOLS_H
+
+#include "nsStringAPI.h"
+
+const char *nsStringToCString(const nsAString &path);
+
+#endif