cp(C)                           19 June 1992                           cp(C)


 Name

    cp - copy files

 Syntax

    cp file1 file2

    cp files directory

 Description

    There are two ways to use the cp command.  With the first way, file1 is
    copied to file2.  Under no circumstance can file1 and file2 be identical.
    With the second way, directory is the location of a directory into which
    one or more files are copied.  This directory must exist prior to the
    execution of the cp command.

    cp follows symbolic links given as arguments.

 See also

    copy(C), chmod(C), cpio(C), ln(C), mv(C), rm(C)

 Notes

    Special device files can be copied. If the file is a named pipe, then the
    data in the pipe is copied to a standard file.  Similarly, if the file is
    a device, then the file is read until the end-of-file is reached, and
    that data is copied to a standard file.  It is not possible to copy a
    directory to a file.

 Standards conformance

    cp is conformant with:

    AT&T SVID Issue 2;
    and X/Open Portability Guide, Issue 3, 1989.