copy(1)                                                             copy(1)

NAME
     copy - copy groups of files

SYNOPSIS
     copy [-option ...] source ... destination

DESCRIPTION
     The copy command can be used to copy the contents of one or more
     directories into another directory or to copy user and special files.

OPTIONS
     Any number of option arguments may be entered in any order.

     No option specified:
          If source is not a directory, copy is identical to the cp com-
          mand.

          If source is a directory, all files in the source directory are
          copied. Subdirectories are not taken into account.

          If the named destination (file or directory) does not exist, a
          new one is created and is given the same attributes as the
          source. In the case of copy, as opposed to cp, there are no res-
          trictions placed on the access permissions as a result of the
          umask setting.

          If the named destination does exist it is overwritten.

     -a   Before copying each file, copy requests you to individually con-
          firm whether or not a copy is to be made. The command will only
          be executed if you answer y.

          The -a option automatically sets the -ad option.

     -ad  copy requests confirmation before copying a subdirectory. The
          command will only be executed if you answer y.

     -l   (link) For files, links are made instead of copies wherever pos-
          sible.

          Links are never made for directories or special files.

          If several files are given as the source, an existing directory
          must be specified as the destination.

     -m   (modification) If this option is set, every file copied will have
          the times of last access and modification set to that of the
          source.

          -m not specified:

          The modification time will be set to the time of the copy.



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copy(1)                                                             copy(1)

     -n   (new) The destination file must be new. If the destination file
          already exists, the copy command is not executed for this file.
          For special files this option is assumed. If the source is a
          directory, this option is meaningless; but it does affect the
          files in the directory.

     -o   (owner) Only the system administrator is allowed to set this
          option. If this option is set, every file will have the owner and
          the group affiliation of the source.

          If this option is not set, the person entering the command
          becomes owner of the copied file.

     -r   (recursive) All subdirectories are copied. This option can be
          used to copy (recursively) entire file systems.

     -v   (verbose) Logs the copy run on the input device.

     source
          The source can be a file, a directory or a special file. The
          source must exist.

          Multiple operands are allowed.

     destination
          destination is either a file or a directory and must be different
          from source. Note that copy does not produce an error message if
          you give the same names for source and destination.

EXAMPLES
     Copy the contents of the directory named TOOLS to TOOLS.BAK. The
     directory named TOOLS.BAK does not exist, but is created by the copy
     command.

     $ copy TOOLS TOOLS.BAK

SEE ALSO
     cp(1), ln(1).
















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