Sccsid @(#)cp.1 1.26 (gritter) 5/3/05
Parts taken from cp(1), Unix 7th edition:
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cp - copy files cp [-adDfiHLpPrRs] [-b size] file1 [file2 . . . ] target File1 is copied onto target . If target is an existing regular file, its content is overwritten. Its mode and owner are preserved; the mode of the source file is used otherwise.

If target is a directory, one or more files are copied into the directory with their original file-names.

Cp refuses to copy a file onto itself.

The cp command accepts the following options:

-i Cp will ask for confirmation before overwriting an existing target file. For /usr/5bin/cp and /usr/5bin/s42/cp , cp will also ask for confirmation before overwriting a directory with the -r or -R option. For /usr/5bin/cp , this flag will be automatically disabled if standard input is not a terminal.

-p Cp will try to preserve access and modification times, user and group ownerships, and file permission bits. Failing to preserve these modes is always considered an error, but only /usr/5bin/s42/cp , /usr/5bin/posix2001/cp , and /usr/5bin/posix/cp will print an error message.

-r The source file operands may be directories that will be copied recursively. Symbolic links are followed. The content of all non-directory files encountered is tried to be reproduced in a regular file.

The following options have been added by POSIX.2:

-f If overwriting a target file fails, cp will try to unlink that file and proceed.

-R The source file operands may be directories that will be copied recursively. Special files such as block and character devices, FIFOs, and symbolic links encountered during traversal are recreated in the target hierarchy. If a symbolic link is given as an operand, its target is copied.

The following options have been added by POSIX.1-2001:

-H With the -R option, follow symbolic links given as operands, but do not follow symbolic links encountered during traversal of the source hierarchy. This is the default.

-L With the -R option, follow all symbolic links.

-P With the -R option, do not follow any symbolic links.

The following options are extensions:

-a Perform a recursive copy and, if possible, preserve hard links as well as any attributes. This is the same as the combination of the -Rdp options.

-b size With this option given, cp performs input and output in units of size bytes. The default size depends on the current input file.

-d With the -r or -R options, hard links between copied files are usually splitted, i.\|e. each copied file is assigned to a separate i-node. When this option is given, hard links between copied files are reproduced in the destination hierarchy.

-D Causes cp to use direct i/o when copying file data. See the description of `O_DIRECT' in open (2) for more information.

-s With this option, cp prints i/o statistics for each single file of which data was copied.

cat(1), cpio(1), mv(1), pr(1), rm(1) Use either or to copy files that begin with a hyphen character.

A copy of a symbolic link contains the same pathname as the original. Symbolic links with relative pathnames may thus change or lose their target if copied to a different level in the file hierarchy.