NAME

cp, mv  − copy, move files

SYNOPSIS

­cp ­file1 file2
­cp ­file ... directory

­mv ­file1 file2
­mv ­file ... directory

DESCRIPTION

In the first form ­file1 is any name and ­file2 is any name except an existing directory.  In the second form the commands copy or move one or more ­files into a ­directory under their original file names, as if by a sequence of commands in the first form.  Thus ­cp f1 f2 dir is equivalent to cp f1 dir/f1; cp f2 dir/f2. 

­Cp copies the contents of plain ­file1 to file2. The mode and owner of ­file2 are preserved if it already exists; the mode of ­file1 is used otherwise. 

­Mv moves ­file1 to file2. If the files are in the same directory, ­file1 is just renamed; otherwise ­mv behaves like ­cp followed by rm. ­Mv will rename directories, but it refuses to move a directory into another directory. 

SOURCE

­/sys/src/cmd/cp.c
­/sys/src/cmd/mv.c

SEE ALSO

cat(1), stat(2)

DIAGNOSTICS

­Cp and ­mv refuse to copy or move files onto themselves. 

Plan 9  —  April 04, 1995