- * Use this to get the real path, i.e. resolve links. If you want an
- * absolute path but don't mind links, use absolute_path.
+ * Return the real path (i.e., absolute path, with symlinks resolved
+ * and extra slashes removed) equivalent to the specified path. (If
+ * you want an absolute path but don't mind links, use
+ * absolute_path().) The return value is a pointer to a static
+ * buffer.
+ *
+ * The input and all intermediate paths must be shorter than MAX_PATH.
+ * The directory part of path (i.e., everything up to the last
+ * dir_sep) must denote a valid, existing directory, but the last
+ * component need not exist. If die_on_error is set, then die with an
+ * informative error message if there is a problem. Otherwise, return
+ * NULL on errors (without generating any output).