How to copy multiple files from a different directory using cp?

Question

I want to copy multiple files from a specific directory once I am in another directory. To clarify I want to do the following, at once (one command):

cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file1 .
cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file2 .
cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file3 .
cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file4 .

I can't use cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/* . because in dir2 there are n files (n>4)

By the way, I'm using bash.

Thanks.

cp -t Directory source is an option This can be used to copy all/selected files from one dir to another.... — Xander, Mar 29 '12 at 05:48

Philipp · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-28T21:40:05.993

84

cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file[1234] .

or (in Bash)

cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file{1..4} .

If the file names are non-contiguous, you can use

cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/{march,april,may} .

edited Mar 28 '12 at 21:40

answered Mar 28 '12 at 21:22

Philipp

thanks actually in the real case the name of the files are completely different. `cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/[march april may] .` will not work – ziulfer Mar 28 '12 at 21:24
2

Why don't you tell us the real case then? – Philipp Mar 28 '12 at 21:25
1

@ziulfer: OK, that one is also possible with the brace syntax. – Philipp Mar 28 '12 at 21:40
Thank you once again. This brace syntax has been very useful to me. However, one stuff that I really miss from the default, file-by-file, cp command is the possibility to have auto-completion. Is there a possibility to have this with the brace syntax? – ziulfer May 20 '14 at 15:37
in case someone runs in to this, it is important there are no spaces between commas and filenames in the `{alpha.a,beta.b,gamma.g,delta.d}` type list – Piotr May 01 '15 at 16:47

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 28 '12 at 21:24

5

If all the files you want to copy are in the pattern of file{number}{othertext}, you could use something like:

cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file[0-9]* .

Note that this will copy file5, but it will also copy file0abc.

If you would like to copy ONLY those four files (and not the {othertext} ones), you can use:

cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file[1-4] .

Note that while this looks like part of a regular expression, it is not.

answered Mar 28 '12 at 21:24

ghoti

thanks actually in the real case the name of the files are completely different. `cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/[march april may] .` will not work – ziulfer Mar 28 '12 at 21:31
But that wasn't your question. – ghoti Mar 29 '12 at 11:14
Also want to mention that `cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/F* .` works. This is for the case where only the starting letter in the filenames is the same. And only those files starting with `F` are desired to be copied – smac89 Dec 25 '14 at 07:22

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 28 '12 at 21:23

3

Try this one:

 cp ../dir5/dir4/dir3/dir2/file{1..4}

answered Mar 28 '12 at 21:23

zbyszek26104

1

Only works in bash. OP didn't specify what shell he's using. – Graham Mar 28 '12 at 21:24

3 Answers3