cpdir -- Command

Copy directory hierarchy
cpdir [option ... ] dir1 dir2

cpdir  copies source  directory hierarchy  dir1  to target  hierarchy dir2,
which  is  created  if necessary.   Either  hierarchy  may straddle  device
boundaries.

cpdir preserves  as much as possible of the  source structure.  Files under
dir1 go  to identically named files under dir2.  Links between source files
are  preserved  as links  between  corresponding  target files.   Preserved
source file  attributes include mode,  subject to the  user's file creation
mask.  If the  user is not the superuser, cpdir  cannot preserve the owner,
group, and  sticky bits  in the  mode, and the  invoking user owns  all new
files; under  the superuser it  preserves these as well.   In addition, the
superuser may ``copy'' special nodes  and pipe nodes; cpdir copies only the
facility, not the contents.  It  also preserves real major and minor device
numbers of special nodes.

If  the target  file corresponding  to a  source file exists  and is  not a
directory, cpdir  unlinks it before copying.  This  differs from the action
of cp.

cpdir recognizes the following options:

-a   Give a verbose account on one line of the files copied.

-d   Preserve the last-modified date instead of using the present date.

-e   Print  error  message  and continue  execution  after  an error.   The
     default action is to exit on any error.

-r [n]
     Descend no  more than n  levels in the source  hierarchy.  Contents of
     dir1 are at level 1.  If missing, n defaults to 1.

-s name
     Suppress the  copy of file name,  which should be the  pathname of the
     file relative to dir1.

-t   Test only,  make no changes.  With this option,  cpdir prints a report
     of all  errors (-e is  implied), all unlinked target  files, and other
     useful information, including a summary of all external links into the
     target hierarchy that would have been broken had the unlinking actions
     been executed.

-u   Update  regular files.   Copy the  source  only if  it was  created or
     altered more recently than the target  file, or if the target does not
     exist.

-v   Print a  verbose account of its activities.   cp prints a file-by-file
     account of its actions, in  addition to the information listed under -
     t.

See Also

commands,
cp,
link(),
umask(),
unlink()

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness