// Lifecycle
HPATHL Path_Allocate(LPCWSTR path);    // Create (NULL for empty)
void   Path_Release(HPATHL hpth);      // Free
HPATHL Path_Copy(const HPATHL hpth);   // Duplicate

// Read access
LPCWSTR Path_Get(HPATHL hpth);                    // Get LPCWSTR pointer
size_t  Path_GetLength(HPATHL hpth);               // String length
size_t  Path_GetBufCount(HPATHL hpth);             // Allocated buffer size
bool    Path_IsEmpty(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_IsNotEmpty(HPATHL hpth);

// Write access
void   Path_Reset(HPATHL hpth, LPCWSTR path);     // Replace contents
void   Path_Empty(HPATHL hpth, bool truncate);     // Clear (keep handle)
LPWSTR Path_WriteAccessBuf(HPATHL hpth, size_t len); // Get writable buffer (min MAX_PATH_EXPLICIT)
void   Path_Sanitize(HPATHL hpth);                // Recalc length after external buffer write
void   Path_Swap(HPATHL h1, HPATHL h2);

// Path operations
bool    Path_Append(HPATHL hpth, LPCWSTR more);
bool    Path_RemoveFileSpec(HPATHL hpth);
void    Path_StripPath(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_RenameExtension(HPATHL hpth, LPCWSTR ext);
LPCWSTR Path_FindFileName(HPATHL hpth);
LPCWSTR Path_FindExtension(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_Canonicalize(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_CanonicalizeEx(HPATHL hpth, HPATHL hbase);
void    Path_ExpandEnvStrings(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_IsRoot(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_IsRelative(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_IsUNC(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_IsExistingFile(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_IsExistingDirectory(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_IsLnkFile(HPATHL hpth);
DWORD   Path_GetFileAttributes(HPATHL hpth);
void    Path_QuoteSpaces(HPATHL hpth, bool force);
void    Path_UnQuoteSpaces(HPATHL hpth);
size_t  Path_GetLongPathNameEx(HPATHL hpth);
size_t  Path_ToShortPathName(HPATHL hpth);
void    Path_GetModuleFilePath(HPATHL hpth);
void    Path_GetAppDirectory(HPATHL hpth);
bool    Path_GetCurrentDirectory(HPATHL hpth);
void    Path_FreeExtra(HPATHL hpth, size_t keep);
bool    Path_BrowseDirectory(HWND hwnd, LPCWSTR title, HPATHL hpth_io, HPATHL hbase, bool newStyle);
void    Path_RelativeToApp(HPATHL hpth, bool isFile, bool unexpandEnv, bool unexpandDocs);
int     Path_StrgComparePath(HPATHL h1, HPATHL h2, HPATHL wrkdir, bool normalize);
void    Path_NormalizeEx(HPATHL hpth, HPATHL wrkdir, bool real, bool search);

typedef struct tagDLITEM {
    UINT mask;
    WCHAR szFileName[MAX_PATH];      // Line 105 — full file path
    WCHAR szDisplayName[MAX_PATH];   // Line 106 — display name
    int  ntype;
} DLITEM, *LPDLITEM;

typedef struct tagDLDATA {
    // ...
    WCHAR szPath[MAX_PATH];  // Current directory path
} DLDATA;

// In WinMain / initialization:
Paths.CurrentFile = Path_Allocate(NULL);
Paths.ModuleDirectory = Path_Allocate(NULL);
Paths.WorkingDirectory = Path_Allocate(NULL);
Paths.IniFile = Path_Allocate(NULL);
Paths.IniFileDefault = Path_Allocate(NULL);

Settings.OpenWithDir = Path_Allocate(NULL);
Defaults.OpenWithDir = Path_Allocate(NULL);
Settings.FavoritesDir = Path_Allocate(NULL);
Defaults.FavoritesDir = Path_Allocate(NULL);

// In WM_DESTROY / cleanup (reverse order):
Path_Release(Settings.FavoritesDir);
Path_Release(Defaults.FavoritesDir);
Path_Release(Settings.OpenWithDir);
Path_Release(Defaults.OpenWithDir);
Path_Release(Paths.IniFileDefault);
Path_Release(Paths.IniFile);
// ... etc

WinMain()
 +-- [INIT HPATHL globals here]          <-- NEW: allocate g_hIniFile etc.
 +-- [INIT Settings/Defaults HPATHL]     <-- NEW: allocate Settings.hCurDir etc.
 +-- ParseCommandLine()                   Uses lpPathArg (GlobalAlloc) -> migrate to HPATHL
 +-- FindIniFile()          Config.cpp    Fills g_wchIniFile -> use Path_Reset(g_hIniFile, ...)
 +-- TestIniFile()          Config.cpp    Validates INI path
 +-- LoadFlags()            Config.cpp    Loads INI cache
 +-- LoadSettings()         Config.cpp    Fills Settings struct fields
 +-- ChangeDirectory()                    Sets Settings.szCurDir -> Path_Reset(Settings.hCurDir, ...)
 +-- DirList_Init/Fill()                  Uses Settings.szCurDir -> Path_Get(Settings.hCurDir)
 :
 +-- WM_DESTROY
      +-- SaveSettings()    Config.cpp
      +-- [RELEASE all HPATHL globals]    <-- NEW: Path_Release(g_hIniFile) etc.
      +-- [RELEASE Settings/Defaults]     <-- NEW: Path_Release(Settings.hCurDir) etc.

WCHAR pPathBuffer[PATHLONG_MAX_CCH] = { L'\0' };
IniSectionGetStringNoQuotes(section, L"DefaultDirectory", L"", pPathBuffer, PATHLONG_MAX_CCH);
if (StrIsNotEmpty(pPathBuffer)) {
    Path_Reset(Settings2.DefaultDirectory, pPathBuffer);
    Path_ExpandEnvStrings(Settings2.DefaultDirectory);
}

HPATHL hpth = Path_Allocate(NULL);
if (StringCchCompareXI(Path_Get(Settings.OpenWithDir), Path_Get(Defaults.OpenWithDir)) != 0) {
    Path_Reset(hpth, Path_Get(Settings.OpenWithDir));
    Path_RelativeToApp(hpth, false, true, Flags.PortableMyDocs);
    IniSectionSetString(section, L"OpenWithDir", Path_Get(hpth));
} else {
    IniSectionDelete(section, L"OpenWithDir", false);
}
Path_Release(hpth);

// 1. Try module path with .ini extension
Path_GetModuleFilePath(Paths.IniFile);
Path_RenameExtension(Paths.IniFile, L".ini");
bFound = _CheckAndSetIniFile(Paths.IniFile);

// 2. Try app directory + name
if (!bFound) {
    Path_GetAppDirectory(Paths.IniFile);
    Path_Append(Paths.IniFile, L"AppName.ini");
    bFound = _CheckAndSetIniFile(Paths.IniFile);
}

// 3. Handle redirects
// 4. Normalize result
Path_NormalizeEx(Paths.IniFile, Paths.ModuleDirectory, true, false);

bool OpenFileDlg(HWND hwnd, HPATHL hfile_pth_io, const HPATHL hinidir_pth)
{
    OPENFILENAME ofn = { sizeof(OPENFILENAME) };
    ofn.lpstrFile = Path_WriteAccessBuf(hfile_pth_io, PATHLONG_MAX_CCH);
    ofn.nMaxFile  = (DWORD)Path_GetBufCount(hfile_pth_io);
    ofn.lpstrInitialDir = Path_IsNotEmpty(hpth_dir) ? Path_Get(hpth_dir) : NULL;
    // ... other setup ...

    bool const res = GetOpenFileNameW(&ofn);
    Path_Sanitize(hfile_pth_io);              // Recalc length after dialog writes to buffer
    Path_FreeExtra(hfile_pth_io, MAX_PATH_EXPLICIT);  // Trim excess allocation
    return res;
}

HPATHL hdrop_pth = Path_Allocate(NULL);
wchar_t* const drop_buf = Path_WriteAccessBuf(hdrop_pth, STRINGW_MAX_URL_LENGTH);
DragQueryFileW(hDrop, i, drop_buf, (UINT)Path_GetBufCount(hdrop_pth));
Path_Sanitize(hdrop_pth);
// ... use hdrop_pth ...
Path_Release(hdrop_pth);

WORD wsz[MAX_PATH];  // BUG: should be WCHAR, not WORD