Ausam/doc/man/man1/copy.1

.th COPY I 2/13/76
.sh NAME
copy \*- copy contents of a directory tree
.sh SYNOPSIS
.bd copy
[ \fB-a\fR ]
[ \fB-l\fR ]
[ \fB-m\fR ]
[ \fB-n\fR ]
[ \fB-o\fR ]
[ \fB-r\fR ]
[ \fB-s\fR ]
[ \fB-ad\fR ]
[ \fB-v\fR ]
sources destination
.sh DESCRIPTION
The purpose of the copy command is to enable a UNIX user to copy
contents of directories to another directory.
It is possible to
copy whole file systems since directories are made when needed.
.s3
The contents of the source directories are copied to the
destination directory.
If files, directories, or special files
do not exist at the destination, then they are created with the
same mode or flags of the source.
Also the super user may set their
owner and group.
The owner and mode will not be changed if the
destination file exists.
Note that there may be more than one
source directory.
If so, then the effect is the same as if the
command had been issued each with only one source.
.s3
All of the flags in the above synopsis are optional, and those
that are used may appear in any order even after the other arguments.
The arguments are:
.s3
.ft I
.lp +6 5
key	meaning
.ft R
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-a\fR	Asks the user before attempting a copy.
If the
response does not begin with a 'y', then a copy will
not be done.
This option also sets the "\fB-ad\fR" flag.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-l\fR	Uses links instead whenever they can be used.
Otherwise
a copy is done.
Note that links are never done for
special files or directories.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-m\fR	Files are 'moved', that is, unlinked after copying.
The '-l' flag is assumed for this.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-n\fR	Requires the destination file to be new.
If not, then
the copy command will not change the destination file.
Of course the "\fB-n\fR" flag is meaningless for directories.
For special files a "-n" flag is assumed
(i.e. the
destination of a special file must not exist).
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-o\fR	Only the super user may set this option.
If set then
every file copied will have its owner and group set to
those of the source.
If not set, then the owner will be
that of the user who invoked the program.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-s\fR	Only the super user may set this option.
If set then
every file copied will have its modification date set to
that of the source.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-r\fR	If set, then every directory is recursively examined as
it is encountered.
If not set then any directories
that are found will be ignored.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-ad\fR	Asks the user whether a "\fB-r\fR" flag applies when a
directory is discovered.
If the answer does not begin
with a 'y', then the directory will be ignored.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-v\fR	If the verbose option is set, then all kinds of messages
will be printed that reveal what the program is doing.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-s\fR	If the "set-modify-date" option is set then files are
copied leaving the modified dates as they were prior to the copy.
.s3
.lp +6 5
\fB-m\fR	If the "move" option is selected source files and directories
are deleted as appropriate.
.s3
.lp +6 5
source
.br
This may be a file, directory or special file..
It must
exist.
If it is not a directory, then the results of
the command will be the same as for the cp command.
.s3
.lp +6 5
destination
.br
The destination must be either a file or directory
different from the source.
If the source and destination
are anything but directories, then copy will act just
like a cp command.
If both are directories, then copy
will copy each file into the destination directory
according to the flags that have been set.
The default
(without flags) is to silently copy as stated above.
.i0
.dt
.sh "SEE ALSO"
cp (I), cpall (I), mv (I), mvall (I), ln (I)
.sh DIAGNOSTICS
Should be self-explanatory
.sh AUTHOR
Keith H Davis
.sh BUGS