protected function resolvePath($webappPath, $path = null)
    {

        // query whether or not a base directory has been specified
        if ($path == null) {
            // set the directory where the cron.xml file located as base directory
            $path = $webappPath;

        // query whether or not we found an absolute path or not
        } elseif ($path != null) {
            if (strpos($path, '/') > 0) {
                $path = sprintf('%s/%s', $webappPath, $path);
            }
        }

        // return the resolved path
        return $path;
    }