Index: includes/common.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/common.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.842
diff -u -p -r1.842 common.inc
--- includes/common.inc	5 Jan 2009 22:23:58 -0000	1.842
+++ includes/common.inc	7 Jan 2009 21:04:08 -0000
@@ -1595,6 +1595,7 @@ function format_date($timestamp, $type =
  *   The Drupal path being linked to, such as "admin/content/node", or an
  *   existing URL like "http://drupal.org/". The special path
  *   '<front>' may also be given and will generate the site's base URL.
+ *   The path can also be a file such as "sites/default/files/drupalicon.png".
  * @param $options
  *   An associative array of additional options, with the following keys:
  *   - 'query'
@@ -1711,7 +1712,17 @@ function url($path = NULL, array $option
   $prefix = empty($path) ? rtrim($options['prefix'], '/') : $options['prefix'];
   $path = drupal_urlencode($prefix . $path);
 
-  if ($clean_url) {
+  $private_files = variable_get('file_downloads', FILE_DOWNLOADS_PUBLIC) === FILE_DOWNLOADS_PRIVATE;
+  if (! $clean_url || $private_files) {
+    if($is_file = strpos($path, file_directory_path() . '/') === 0) {
+      if ($private_files) {
+        $path = trim(substr($path, strlen(file_directory_path())), '\\/');
+        $path = 'system/files/' . $path;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  
+  if ($clean_url || ($is_file && ! $private_files)) {
     // With Clean URLs.
     if ($options['query']) {
       return $base . $path . '?' . $options['query'] . $options['fragment'];
Index: includes/file.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/file.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.151
diff -u -p -r1.151 file.inc
--- includes/file.inc	6 Jan 2009 12:00:40 -0000	1.151
+++ includes/file.inc	7 Jan 2009 21:04:08 -0000
@@ -78,22 +78,14 @@ define('FILE_STATUS_PERMANENT', 1);
 
 /**
  * Create the download path to a file.
+ * 
+ * @deprecated Use url() instead.
  *
  * @param $path A string containing the path of the file to generate URL for.
  * @return A string containing a URL that can be used to download the file.
  */
 function file_create_url($path) {
-  // Strip file_directory_path from $path. We only include relative paths in
-  // URLs.
-  if (strpos($path, file_directory_path() . '/') === 0) {
-    $path = trim(substr($path, strlen(file_directory_path())), '\\/');
-  }
-  switch (variable_get('file_downloads', FILE_DOWNLOADS_PUBLIC)) {
-    case FILE_DOWNLOADS_PUBLIC:
-      return $GLOBALS['base_url'] . '/' . file_directory_path() . '/' . str_replace('\\', '/', $path);
-    case FILE_DOWNLOADS_PRIVATE:
-      return url('system/files/' . $path, array('absolute' => TRUE));
-  }
+  return url($path, array('absolute' => TRUE));
 }
 
 /**