diff --git a/bin/convert_swig b/bin/convert_swig
index 81b3d734..395321d9 100755
--- a/bin/convert_swig
+++ b/bin/convert_swig
@@ -132,6 +132,18 @@ if ( $help ) {
 if ( scalar @swig_exclude_dirs == 0 ) {
     @swig_exclude_dirs = split /:/ , $ENV{"TRICK_ICG_EXCLUDE"} ;
 }
+if (scalar @swig_exclude_dirs) {
+     @swig_exclude_dirs = sort(@swig_exclude_dirs );
+     # Error check - delete any element that is null
+     # (note: sort forced all blank names to front of array
+     @swig_exclude_dirs = map { s/(^\s+|\s+$)//g ; $_ } @swig_exclude_dirs ;
+     while ( not length @swig_exclude_dirs[0] ) {
+         # Delete an element from the left side of an array (element zero)
+         shift @swig_exclude_dirs ;
+     }
+     @swig_exclude_dirs = map { (-e $_) ? abs_path($_) : $_ } @swig_exclude_dirs ;
+ }
+
 push @include_paths , ("-I".$ENV{"TRICK_HOME"}."/trick_source" , "-I../include") ;
 @defines = $ENV{"TRICK_CFLAGS"} =~ /(-D\S+)/g ;       # get defines from TRICK_CFLAGS
 if ( $ENV{"TRICK_CFLAGS"} !~ /DTRICK_VER=/ ) {
@@ -391,6 +403,10 @@ sub process_file($$) {
                                 $exclude = 1 ;
                                 last ;
                             }
+                            if ( abs_path($file_name) =~ /^\"\Q$i/ ) {
+                                $exclude = 1 ;
+                                last ;
+                            }
                         }
 
                         if ( $exclude == 0 ) {
diff --git a/bin/pm/make_makefile.pm b/bin/pm/make_makefile.pm
index d1ca45de..022c0e6b 100644
--- a/bin/pm/make_makefile.pm
+++ b/bin/pm/make_makefile.pm
@@ -166,11 +166,20 @@ sub make_makefile($$$) {
             my $dum = $_ ;
             # if file location begins with $ie (an IGC exclude dir)
             if ( $dum =~ s/^\Q$ie// ) {
-                if ( $dum =~ /^\// ) {
+                if ( $dum eq "" or $dum =~ /^\// ) {
                     trick_print($$sim_ref{fh}, "CP skipping $f (ICG exclude dir $ie)\n" , "normal_yellow" , $$sim_ref{args}{v}) ;
                     $continue = 0 ;
                     last ;  # break out of loop
                 }
+            } else {
+               $dum = abs_path($dum) ;
+                if ( $dum =~ s/^\Q$ie// ) {
+                    if ( $dum eq "" or $dum =~ /^\// ) {
+                        trick_print($$sim_ref{fh}, "CP skipping $f (ICG exclude dir $ie)\n" , "normal_yellow" , $$sim_ref{args}{v}) ;
+                        $continue = 0 ;
+                        last ;  # break out of loop
+                    }
+                }
             }
         }
         next if ( $continue == 0 ) ;
diff --git a/bin/pm/make_swig_makefile.pm b/bin/pm/make_swig_makefile.pm
index bef950f0..0fc57861 100644
--- a/bin/pm/make_swig_makefile.pm
+++ b/bin/pm/make_swig_makefile.pm
@@ -169,6 +169,12 @@ sub make_swig_makefile($$$) {
                         $continue = 0 ;
                         last ;  # break out of loop
                     }
+                    # if an exlude path is a file, then we need to check absolute path vs. absolute path of exclude directory.
+                    if ( abs_path($f) =~ /^\Q$ie/ ) {
+                        trick_print($$sim_ref{fh}, "CP(swig) skipping $f (ICG exclude dir $ie)\n" , "normal_yellow" , $$sim_ref{args}{v}) ;
+                        $continue = 0 ;
+                        last ;  # break out of loop
+                    }
                 }
                 next if ( $continue == 0 ) ;
                 my $temp_str ;
diff --git a/trick_source/codegen/Interface_Code_Gen/HeaderSearchDirs.cpp b/trick_source/codegen/Interface_Code_Gen/HeaderSearchDirs.cpp
index 54baf133..8114ec4d 100644
--- a/trick_source/codegen/Interface_Code_Gen/HeaderSearchDirs.cpp
+++ b/trick_source/codegen/Interface_Code_Gen/HeaderSearchDirs.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <sstream>
+#include <fstream>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <limits.h>
@@ -132,9 +133,17 @@ void HeaderSearchDirs::AddICGExcludeDirs () {
             //icg_exclude_dirs.push_back(item);
             item = trim(item) ;
             if ( ! item.empty() ) {
-                char * resolved_path = realpath(item.c_str(), NULL) ;
+                //char * resolved_path = realpath(item.c_str(), NULL) ;
+                char * resolved_path = almostRealPath(item.c_str() ) ;
                 if ( resolved_path ) {
-                    icg_exclude_dirs.push_back(std::string(resolved_path) + std::string("/"));
+                    std::ifstream file_or_dir(resolved_path) ;
+                    file_or_dir.seekg(0, std::ios::end) ;
+                    if ( !file_or_dir.good()) {
+                        icg_exclude_dirs.push_back(std::string(resolved_path) + "/");
+                    } else {
+                        icg_exclude_dirs.push_back(std::string(resolved_path));
+                    }
+                    free(resolved_path) ;
                 } else {
                     std::cout << "Cannot find TRICK_ICG_EXCLUDE directory " << item << std::endl ;
                 }
@@ -156,7 +165,13 @@ void HeaderSearchDirs::AddICGNoCommentDirs () {
             if ( ! item.empty() ) {
                 char * resolved_path = realpath(item.c_str(), NULL) ;
                 if ( resolved_path ) {
-                    icg_nocomment_dirs.push_back(std::string(resolved_path) + std::string("/"));
+                    std::ifstream file_or_dir(resolved_path) ;
+                    file_or_dir.seekg(0, std::ios::end) ;
+                    if ( !file_or_dir.good()) {
+                        icg_nocomment_dirs.push_back(std::string(resolved_path) + "/");
+                    } else {
+                        icg_nocomment_dirs.push_back(std::string(resolved_path));
+                    }
                 } else {
                     std::cout << "Cannot find TRICK_ICG_NOCOMMENT directory " << item << std::endl ;
                 }
diff --git a/trick_source/sim_services/MemoryManager/include/parameter_types.h b/trick_source/sim_services/MemoryManager/include/parameter_types.h
index e0286f45..30e4f703 100644
--- a/trick_source/sim_services/MemoryManager/include/parameter_types.h
+++ b/trick_source/sim_services/MemoryManager/include/parameter_types.h
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ extern "C" {
 
 const char* trickTypeCharString( TRICK_TYPE type, const char* name);
 
+/* here for backwards compatibility */
+#define TRICK_USER_DEFINED_TYPE TRICK_OPAQUE_TYPE
+
 /* Define int_64t and uint_64t depending on compiler options */
 #if __linux
 #  include <stdint.h>