def resolve_path_from_base(path_to_resolve, base_path):
    """
    If path-to_resolve is a relative path, create an absolute path
    with base_path as the base.

    If path_to_resolve is an absolute path or a user path (~), just
    resolve it to an absolute path and return.
    """
    return os.path.abspath(
        os.path.join(
            base_path,
            os.path.expanduser(path_to_resolve)))