file copy ?-force? ?- -? source target
file copy ?-force? ?- -? source ?source ...? targetDir
The first form makes a copy of the file or directory source under the pathname target. If target is an existing directory, then the second form is used. The second form makes a copy inside targetDir of each source file listed. If a directory is specified as a source, then the contents of the directory will be recursively copied into targetDir. Existing files will not be overwritten unless the -force option is specified. When copying within a single filesystem, file copy will copy soft links (i.e. the links themselves are copied, not the things they point to). Trying to overwrite a non-empty directory, overwrite a directory with a file, or a file with a directory will all result in errors even if -force was specified. Arguments are processed in the order specified, halting at the first error, if any. A - - marks the end of switches; the argument following the - - will be treated as a source even if it starts with a -.
See also: