code: public static String getAbsoluteURIFromRelative(String localPath)
    {
      if (localPath == null || localPath.length() == 0)
        return "";
  
      // If the local path is a relative path, then it is resolved against
      // the "user.dir" system property.
      String absolutePath = localPath;
      if (!isAbsolutePath(localPath))
      {
        try
        {
          absolutePath = getAbsolutePathFromRelativePath(localPath);
        }
        // user.dir not accessible from applet
        catch (SecurityException se)
        {
          return "file:" + localPath;
        }
      }
  
      String urlString;
      if (null != absolutePath)
      {
        if (absolutePath.startsWith(File.separator))
          urlString = "file://" + absolutePath;
        else
          urlString = "file:///" + absolutePath;
      }
      else
        urlString = "file:" + localPath;
  
      return replaceChars(urlString);
    }
docs: Get an absolute URI from a given relative URI (local path).
  
  <p>The relative URI is a local filesystem path. The path can be
  absolute or relative. If it is a relative path, it is resolved relative
  to the system property "user.dir" if it is available; if not (i.e. in an
  Applet perhaps which throws SecurityException) then we just return the
  relative path. The space and backslash characters are also replaced to
  generate a good absolute URI.</p>
  
  @param localPath The relative URI to resolve
  
  @return Resolved absolute URI