download helper and directory helper question NOW with an additional URI question!

[eluser]nikefido[/eluser]
I am building a file management system using code igniter and I was wondering if I could use the download and directory helper that CI so thoughtfully provides..

My problem is that the files the system uploads are going to be stored outside of the root folder (www aka public_html) -

Since the download helper path/to/file is relative to the index.php...how big of a problem is this? Can I just use a few "../../" to go that far back "behind" the www/public_html folders?

Also, can directory helper be used the same way?

My alternative is to use the apache mod_xsendfile to send the correct headers.