If you plan to use a joined node-system for pathfinding you may be interrested in this functions (i call it flex_path):
Feel free to contact me if you're in need of such function (sell/share).
It calculates the shortest distance from one node to an other using a joined node-system:
demo (zip, 1.1MB)
it's easy to use and (in optimized mode)
very fast!
for/using lite-c