boolean isFirstOrLastNode = ( i == splitPath.length - 1 || i == 0 );
if ( isFirstOrLastNode && pathElement.length( ) == 0 )
continue;
boolean isLastNode = ( i == splitPath.length - 1 );
PathNodeType nodeType = ( isLastNode && !isDirectory ) ? PathNodeType.FILE
: PathNodeType.DIRECTORY;
// make sure this path element is not some disallowed string of
// characters (e.g. "...")
// note: can't check this earlier b/c empty string is invalid and