diff --git a/include/stdex/compat.hpp b/include/stdex/compat.hpp
index 961555d69..314877a71 100644
--- a/include/stdex/compat.hpp
+++ b/include/stdex/compat.hpp
@@ -69,12 +69,18 @@
 #ifndef _Inout_opt_
 #define _Inout_opt_
 #endif
+#ifndef _Inout_z_
+#define _Inout_z_
+#endif
 #ifndef _Inout_cap_
 #define _Inout_cap_(p)
 #endif
 #ifndef _Inout_count_
 #define _Inout_count_(p)
 #endif
+#ifndef _Inout_updates_z_
+#define _Inout_updates_z_(p)
+#endif
 
 #ifndef _Use_decl_annotations_
 #define _Use_decl_annotations_
diff --git a/include/stdex/stream.hpp b/include/stdex/stream.hpp
index 360a4c7ae..4b0e246d0 100644
--- a/include/stdex/stream.hpp
+++ b/include/stdex/stream.hpp
@@ -2454,6 +2454,14 @@ namespace stdex
 				open(filename, mode);
 			}
 
+			///
+			/// Opens file
+			///
+			/// \param[in] filename  Filename
+			/// \param[in] mode      Bitwise combination of mode_t flags
+			///
+			inline file(_In_ const stdex::sstring& filename, _In_ int mode) : file(filename.c_str(), mode) {}
+
 			///
 			/// Opens file
 			///
@@ -2527,6 +2535,17 @@ namespace stdex
 					m_state = state_t::fail;
 			}
 
+			///
+			/// Opens file
+			///
+			/// \param[in] filename  Filename
+			/// \param[in] mode      Bitwise combination of mode_t flags
+			///
+			inline void open(_In_ const stdex::sstring& filename, _In_ int mode)
+			{
+				open(filename.c_str(), mode);
+			}
+
 			virtual fpos_t seek(_In_ foff_t offset, _In_ seek_t how = seek_t::beg)
 			{
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -2788,6 +2807,15 @@ namespace stdex
 				init(m_source);
 			}
 
+			///
+			/// Opens file
+			///
+			/// \param[in] filename    Filename
+			/// \param[in] mode        Bitwise combination of mode_t flags
+			/// \param[in] cache_size  Size of the cache block
+			///
+			inline cached_file(_In_ const stdex::sstring& filename, _In_ int mode, _In_ size_t cache_size = default_cache_size) : cached_file(filename.c_str(), mode, cache_size) {}
+
 			virtual ~cached_file()
 			{
 				done();
@@ -2819,6 +2847,17 @@ namespace stdex
 				m_state = state_t::fail;
 			}
 
+			///
+			/// Opens file
+			///
+			/// \param[in] filename    Filename
+			/// \param[in] mode        Bitwise combination of mode_t flags
+			///
+			inline void open(_In_ const stdex::sstring& filename, _In_ int mode)
+			{
+				open(filename.c_str(), mode);
+			}
+
 		protected:
 			file m_source;
 		};
@@ -2910,6 +2949,14 @@ namespace stdex
 				load(filename, mode);
 			}
 
+			///
+			/// Loads content from file-system file
+			///
+			/// \param[in] filename  Filename
+			/// \param[in] mode      Bitwise combination of mode_t flags
+			///
+			inline memory_file(_In_ const stdex::sstring& filename, _In_ int mode) : memory_file(filename.c_str(), mode) {}
+
 			virtual ~memory_file()
 			{
 				if (m_manage && m_data)
@@ -2978,6 +3025,17 @@ namespace stdex
 #endif
 			}
 
+			///
+			/// Loads content from a file-system file
+			///
+			/// \param[in] filename  Filename
+			/// \param[in] mode      Bitwise combination of mode_t flags
+			///
+			inline void load(_In_ const stdex::sstring& filename, _In_ int mode)
+			{
+				load(filename.c_str(), mode);
+			}
+
 			///
 			/// Saves content to a file-system file
 			///
@@ -3002,7 +3060,18 @@ namespace stdex
 				f.set_atime(m_atime);
 				f.set_mtime(m_mtime);
 #endif
-				}
+			}
+
+			///
+			/// Saves content to a file-system file
+			///
+			/// \param[in] filename  Filename
+			/// \param[in] mode      Bitwise combination of mode_t flags
+			///
+			inline void save(_In_ const stdex::sstring& filename, _In_ int mode)
+			{
+				save(filename.c_str(), mode);
+			}
 
 			///
 			/// Returns pointer to data
diff --git a/include/stdex/string.hpp b/include/stdex/string.hpp
index 1ab6e4f5f..c647aa5ea 100644
--- a/include/stdex/string.hpp
+++ b/include/stdex/string.hpp
@@ -1286,4 +1286,71 @@ namespace stdex
 		va_end(arg);
 		return str;
 	}
+
+	///
+	/// Convert string to lower-case character-by-character
+	///
+	/// \note For legacy code support only.
+	///
+	/// \param[in,out] str    String
+	///
+	template<class T>
+	inline void strlwr(_Inout_z_ T* str, _In_ const std::locale& locale)
+	{
+		assert(str);
+		const auto& ctype = std::use_facet<std::ctype<T>>(locale);
+		for (size_t i = 0; str[i]; ++i)
+			str[i] = ctype.tolower(str[i]);
+	}
+
+	///
+	/// Convert string to lower-case character-by-character
+	///
+	/// \note For legacy code support only.
+	///
+	/// \param[in,out] str    String
+	/// \param[in]     count  Code unit limit
+	///
+	template<class T>
+	inline void strlwr(_Inout_updates_z_(count) T* str, _In_ size_t count, _In_ const std::locale& locale)
+	{
+		assert(str || !count);
+		const auto& ctype = std::use_facet<std::ctype<T>>(locale);
+		for (size_t i = 0; i < count && str[i]; ++i)
+			str[i] = ctype.tolower(str[i]);
+	}
+
+	///
+	/// Convert string to upper-case character-by-character
+	///
+	/// \note For legacy code support only.
+	///
+	/// \param[in,out] str    String
+	///
+	template<class T>
+	inline void strupr(_Inout_z_ T* str, _In_ const std::locale& locale)
+	{
+		assert(str);
+		const auto& ctype = std::use_facet<std::ctype<T>>(locale);
+		for (size_t i = 0; str[i]; ++i)
+			str[i] = ctype.toupper(str[i]);
+	}
+
+	///
+	/// Convert string to upper-case character-by-character
+	///
+	/// \note For legacy code support only.
+	///
+	/// \param[in,out] str    String
+	/// \param[in]     count  Code unit limit
+	///
+	template<class T>
+	inline void strupr
+	(_Inout_updates_z_(count) T* str, _In_ size_t count, _In_ const std::locale& locale)
+	{
+		assert(str || !count);
+		const auto& ctype = std::use_facet<std::ctype<T>>(locale);
+		for (size_t i = 0; i < count && str[i]; ++i)
+			str[i] = ctype.toupper(str[i]);
+	}
 }