.\"
.\" Sccsid @(#)copy.1	1.8 (gritter) 12/8/04
.TH COPY 1XNX "12/8/04" "Heirloom Toolchest" "XENIX System Compatibility"
.SH NAME
copy \- (XENIX) copy groups of files
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBcopy\fR
[\fB\-a\fR[\fBd\fR]]
[\fB\-nlsmorvh\fR]
\fIsource\fR\ .\ .\ .\ [\fIdestination\fR]
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.I copy
command
creates a copy of each
.I source
file in
.IR destination .
If no
.I destination
argument is present,
the current directory is used.
If more than one
.I source
argument is given,
.I destination
must be an existing directory;
otherwise, if
.I destination
does not exist, it is created.
For a directory given as
.IR source ,
its contents are copied to
.IR destination ,
but subdirectories are normally ignored
(see the
.I \-r
option below).
Special files are copied as such.
.PP
If a destination file exists,
its content will be overwritten,
but it will retain its permissions and ownership.
Otherwise, files are created
with the owner and group set to those of the invoking user
and with the permissions of the source file (minus umask, see
.IR umask (2)).
.PP
The
.I copy
command accepts the following options,
which may be given at any position
regarding the file operands:
.TP
.B \-a
Asks for confirmation for each file before a copy is attempted,
and for each directory before it is examined.
.TP
.B \-ad
Asks for confirmation for each directory before it is examined.
Implies the
.I \-r
option.
.TP
.B \-h
By default, symbolic links are followed.
This option causes symbolic links
encountered during traversal to be copied
(symbolic links given as arguments
will still be followed).
This option is an extension.
.TP
.B \-l
If possible,
files are hard linked instead of being copied.
This does not apply to directories or special files.
.TP
.B \-m
Sets access and modification times of copied files
to those of source files
instead of current time.
.TP
.B \-n
Create new files only: If a destination file exists,
it is not overwritten.
.TP
.B \-o
Sets the owner and group of each destination file
to those of the source file
instead of those of the invoking user.
.TP
.B \-r
Recusively copies subdirectories of the source arguments encountered.
.TP
.B \-s
Similar to
.IR \-l ,
but uses soft links.
This option is an extension.
.TP
.B \-v
Prints the name of each file or directory
before it is copied or examined.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
cp(1),
cpio(1)
.SH NOTES
Files copied will lose all hard link connection.
.PP
In contrast to
.IR cp (1),
if a directory is copied to an existing destination directory,
its contents will be written directly into that directory,
without a subdirectory being created.
For example, if the directory
.I source
contains the files
.I file1
and
.IR file2 ,
the command
.RS
.sp
copy source dest
.sp
.RE
will create files
.I dest/file1
and
.IR dest/file2 ,
while the command
.RS
.sp
cp \-r source dest
.sp
.RE
will create
.I dest/source/file1
and
.IR dest/source/file2 .
Thus if a single directory is named
and no explicit destination is given,
copies of the files below that directory
will be created in the current directory.