diff --git a/include/ndnboost/filesystem/path_traits.hpp b/include/ndnboost/filesystem/path_traits.hpp
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/include/ndnboost/filesystem/path_traits.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,235 @@
+//  filesystem path_traits.hpp  --------------------------------------------------------//
+
+//  Copyright Beman Dawes 2009
+
+//  Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
+//  See http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt
+
+//  Library home page: http://www.boost.org/libs/filesystem
+
+#ifndef NDNBOOST_FILESYSTEM_PATH_TRAITS_HPP
+#define NDNBOOST_FILESYSTEM_PATH_TRAITS_HPP
+
+#include <ndnboost/config.hpp>
+
+# if defined( NDNBOOST_NO_STD_WSTRING )
+#   error Configuration not supported: Boost.Filesystem V3 and later requires std::wstring support
+# endif
+
+#include <ndnboost/filesystem/config.hpp>
+#include <ndnboost/utility/enable_if.hpp>
+#include <ndnboost/type_traits/is_array.hpp>
+#include <ndnboost/type_traits/decay.hpp>
+#include <ndnboost/system/error_code.hpp>
+#include <cwchar>  // for mbstate_t
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+#include <list>
+#include <iterator>
+#include <locale>
+#include <ndnboost/assert.hpp>
+// #include <iostream>   //**** comment me out ****
+
+#include <ndnboost/config/abi_prefix.hpp> // must be the last #include
+
+namespace ndnboost { namespace filesystem {
+
+  NDNBOOST_FILESYSTEM_DECL const system::error_category& codecvt_error_category();
+  //  uses std::codecvt_base::result used for error codes:
+  //
+  //    ok:       Conversion successful.
+  //    partial:  Not all source characters converted; one or more additional source
+  //              characters are needed to produce the final target character, or the
+  //              size of the target intermediate buffer was too small to hold the result.
+  //    error:    A character in the source could not be converted to the target encoding.
+  //    noconv:   The source and target characters have the same type and encoding, so no
+  //              conversion was necessary.
+
+  class directory_entry;
+  
+namespace path_traits {
+ 
+  typedef std::codecvt<wchar_t, char, std::mbstate_t> codecvt_type;
+
+  //  is_pathable type trait; allows disabling over-agressive class path member templates
+
+  template <class T>
+  struct is_pathable { static const bool value = false; };
+
+  template<> struct is_pathable<char*>                  { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<const char*>            { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<wchar_t*>               { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<const wchar_t*>         { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<std::string>            { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<std::wstring>           { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<std::vector<char> >     { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<std::vector<wchar_t> >  { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<std::list<char> >       { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<std::list<wchar_t> >    { static const bool value = true; };
+  template<> struct is_pathable<directory_entry>        { static const bool value = true; };
+
+  //  Pathable empty
+
+  template <class Container> inline
+    // disable_if aids broken compilers (IBM, old GCC, etc.) and is harmless for
+    // conforming compilers. Replace by plain "bool" at some future date (2012?) 
+    typename ndnboost::disable_if<ndnboost::is_array<Container>, bool>::type
+      empty(const Container & c)
+        { return c.begin() == c.end(); }
+
+  template <class T> inline
+    bool empty(T * const & c_str)
+  {
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(c_str);
+    return !*c_str;
+  }
+
+  template <typename T, size_t N> inline
+     bool empty(T (&x)[N])
+       { return !x[0]; }
+
+  // value types differ  ---------------------------------------------------------------//
+  //
+  //   A from_end argument of 0 is less efficient than a known end, so use only if needed
+  
+  NDNBOOST_FILESYSTEM_DECL
+  void convert(const char* from,
+                const char* from_end,    // 0 for null terminated MBCS
+                std::wstring & to,
+                const codecvt_type& cvt);
+
+  NDNBOOST_FILESYSTEM_DECL
+  void convert(const wchar_t* from,
+                const wchar_t* from_end,  // 0 for null terminated MBCS
+                std::string & to,
+                const codecvt_type& cvt);
+
+  inline 
+  void convert(const char* from,
+                std::wstring & to,
+                const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from);
+    convert(from, 0, to, cvt);
+  }
+
+  inline 
+  void convert(const wchar_t* from,
+                std::string & to,
+                const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from);
+    convert(from, 0, to, cvt);
+  }
+
+  // value types same  -----------------------------------------------------------------//
+
+  // char
+
+  inline 
+  void convert(const char* from, const char* from_end, std::string & to,
+    const codecvt_type&)
+  {
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from);
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from_end);
+    to.append(from, from_end);
+  }
+
+  inline 
+  void convert(const char* from,
+                std::string & to,
+                const codecvt_type&)
+  {
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from);
+    to += from;
+  }
+
+  // wchar_t
+
+  inline 
+  void convert(const wchar_t* from, const wchar_t* from_end, std::wstring & to,
+    const codecvt_type&)
+  {
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from);
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from_end);
+    to.append(from, from_end);
+  }
+
+  inline 
+  void convert(const wchar_t* from,
+                std::wstring & to,
+                const codecvt_type&)
+  {
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(from);
+    to += from;
+  }
+
+  //  Source dispatch  -----------------------------------------------------------------//
+
+  //  contiguous containers
+  template <class U> inline
+    void dispatch(const std::string& c, U& to, const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+    if (c.size())
+      convert(&*c.begin(), &*c.begin() + c.size(), to, cvt);
+  }
+  template <class U> inline
+    void dispatch(const std::wstring& c, U& to, const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+    if (c.size())
+      convert(&*c.begin(), &*c.begin() + c.size(), to, cvt);
+  }
+  template <class U> inline
+    void dispatch(const std::vector<char>& c, U& to, const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+    if (c.size())
+      convert(&*c.begin(), &*c.begin() + c.size(), to, cvt);
+  }
+  template <class U> inline
+    void dispatch(const std::vector<wchar_t>& c, U& to, const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+    if (c.size())
+      convert(&*c.begin(), &*c.begin() + c.size(), to, cvt);
+  }
+
+  //  non-contiguous containers
+  template <class Container, class U> inline
+    // disable_if aids broken compilers (IBM, old GCC, etc.) and is harmless for
+    // conforming compilers. Replace by plain "void" at some future date (2012?) 
+    typename ndnboost::disable_if<ndnboost::is_array<Container>, void>::type
+      dispatch(const Container & c, U& to, const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+    if (c.size())
+    {
+      std::basic_string<typename Container::value_type> s(c.begin(), c.end());
+      convert(s.c_str(), s.c_str()+s.size(), to, cvt);
+    }
+  }
+
+  //  c_str
+  template <class T, class U> inline
+  void dispatch(T * const & c_str, U& to, const codecvt_type& cvt)
+  {
+//    std::cout << "dispatch() const T *\n";
+    NDNBOOST_ASSERT(c_str);
+    convert(c_str, to, cvt);
+  }
+  
+  //  Note: there is no dispatch on C-style arrays because the array may
+  //  contain a string smaller than the array size. 
+
+  NDNBOOST_FILESYSTEM_DECL
+  void dispatch(const directory_entry & de,
+#                ifdef NDNBOOST_WINDOWS_API
+                   std::wstring & to,
+#                else   
+                   std::string & to,
+#                endif
+                 const codecvt_type&);
+
+
+}}} // namespace ndnboost::filesystem::path_traits
+
+#include <ndnboost/config/abi_suffix.hpp> // pops abi_prefix.hpp pragmas
+
+#endif  // NDNBOOST_FILESYSTEM_PATH_TRAITS_HPP