cp in Mac OS X

By: Strauss K in macos Tutorials on 2011-02-03

cp is a command-line utility in Mac OS X and other Unix-based operating systems that is used to copy files and directories from one location to another.

The basic syntax of the cp command is as follows:

cp [options] source_file destination

Here, source_file is the file or directory that you want to copy, and destination is the location where you want to copy the file or directory to.

Some commonly used options for the cp command include:

-r: Recursively copy directories and their contents.
-p: Preserve the original file's permissions, ownership, and timestamps.
-f: Force the copy, even if the destination file already exists and is write-protected.
-v: Verbose output, which displays the names of the files as they are copied.

Here are some examples of how the cp command can be used:

Copy a file from one location to another:
```
cp file1.txt /path/to/destination/
```
This will copy the file file1.txt to the directory /path/to/destination/.
Copy a directory and all its contents to another location:
```
cp -r directory1 /path/to/destination/
```
This will copy the directory directory1 and all its contents to the directory /path/to/destination/.
Preserve the original file's permissions, ownership, and timestamps when copying:
```
cp -p file1.txt /path/to/destination/
```
This will copy the file file1.txt to the directory /path/to/destination/ and preserve its original permissions, ownership, and timestamps.
Force the copy, even if the destination file already exists and is write-protected:
```
cp -f file1.txt /path/to/destination/
```
This will copy the file file1.txt to the directory /path/to/destination/, overwriting any existing file with the same name.

For more information on how to use the cp command and its various options, you can refer to the manual page by running the following command in the Terminal: