
``shutil`` --- High-level file operations
*****************************************

The ``shutil`` module offers a number of high-level operations on
files and collections of files.  In particular, functions are provided
which support file copying and removal. For operations on individual
files, see also the ``os`` module.

Warning: Even the higher-level file copying functions (``copy()``,
  ``copy2()``) can't copy all file metadata.On POSIX platforms, this
  means that file owner and group are lost as well as ACLs.  On Mac
  OS, the resource fork and other metadata are not used. This means
  that resources will be lost and file type and creator codes will not
  be correct. On Windows, file owners, ACLs and alternate data streams
  are not copied.

shutil.copyfileobj(fsrc, fdst[, length])

   Copy the contents of the file-like object *fsrc* to the file-like
   object *fdst*. The integer *length*, if given, is the buffer size.
   In particular, a negative *length* value means to copy the data
   without looping over the source data in chunks; by default the data
   is read in chunks to avoid uncontrolled memory consumption. Note
   that if the current file position of the *fsrc* object is not 0,
   only the contents from the current file position to the end of the
   file will be copied.

shutil.copyfile(src, dst)

   Copy the contents (no metadata) of the file named *src* to a file
   named *dst*. *dst* must be the complete target file name; look at
   ``copy()`` for a copy that accepts a target directory path.  If
   *src* and *dst* are the same files, ``Error`` is raised. The
   destination location must be writable; otherwise,  an ``IOError``
   exception will be raised. If *dst* already exists, it will be
   replaced.   Special files such as character or block devices and
   pipes cannot be copied with this function.  *src* and *dst* are
   path names given as strings.

shutil.copymode(src, dst)

   Copy the permission bits from *src* to *dst*.  The file contents,
   owner, and group are unaffected.  *src* and *dst* are path names
   given as strings.

shutil.copystat(src, dst)

   Copy the permission bits, last access time, last modification time,
   and flags from *src* to *dst*.  The file contents, owner, and group
   are unaffected.  *src* and *dst* are path names given as strings.

shutil.copy(src, dst)

   Copy the file *src* to the file or directory *dst*.  If *dst* is a
   directory, a file with the same basename as *src*  is created (or
   overwritten) in the directory specified.  Permission bits are
   copied.  *src* and *dst* are path names given as strings.

shutil.copy2(src, dst)

   Similar to ``copy()``, but metadata is copied as well -- in fact,
   this is just ``copy()`` followed by ``copystat()``.  This is
   similar to the Unix command **cp -p**.

shutil.ignore_patterns(*patterns)

   This factory function creates a function that can be used as a
   callable for ``copytree()``'s *ignore* argument, ignoring files and
   directories that match one of the glob-style *patterns* provided.
   See the example below.

shutil.copytree(src, dst[, symlinks=False[, ignore=None]])

   Recursively copy an entire directory tree rooted at *src*.  The
   destination directory, named by *dst*, must not already exist; it
   will be created as well as missing parent directories.  Permissions
   and times of directories are copied with ``copystat()``, individual
   files are copied using ``copy2()``.

   If *symlinks* is true, symbolic links in the source tree are
   represented as symbolic links in the new tree; if false or omitted,
   the contents of the linked files are copied to the new tree.

   If *ignore* is given, it must be a callable that will receive as
   its arguments the directory being visited by ``copytree()``, and a
   list of its contents, as returned by ``os.listdir()``.  Since
   ``copytree()`` is called recursively, the *ignore* callable will be
   called once for each directory that is copied.  The callable must
   return a sequence of directory and file names relative to the
   current directory (i.e. a subset of the items in its second
   argument); these names will then be ignored in the copy process.
   ``ignore_patterns()`` can be used to create such a callable that
   ignores names based on glob-style patterns.

   If exception(s) occur, an ``Error`` is raised with a list of
   reasons.

   The source code for this should be considered an example rather
   than the ultimate tool.

shutil.rmtree(path[, ignore_errors[, onerror]])

   Delete an entire directory tree; *path* must point to a directory
   (but not a symbolic link to a directory).  If *ignore_errors* is
   true, errors resulting from failed removals will be ignored; if
   false or omitted, such errors are handled by calling a handler
   specified by *onerror* or, if that is omitted, they raise an
   exception.

   If *onerror* is provided, it must be a callable that accepts three
   parameters: *function*, *path*, and *excinfo*. The first parameter,
   *function*, is the function which raised the exception; it will be
   ``os.path.islink()``, ``os.listdir()``, ``os.remove()`` or
   ``os.rmdir()``.  The second parameter, *path*, will be the path
   name passed to *function*.  The third parameter, *excinfo*, will be
   the exception information return by ``sys.exc_info()``.  Exceptions
   raised by *onerror* will not be caught.

shutil.move(src, dst)

   Recursively move a file or directory to another location.

   If the destination is on the current filesystem, then simply use
   rename. Otherwise, copy src (with ``copy2()``) to the dst and then
   remove src.

exception exception shutil.Error

   This exception collects exceptions that raised during a multi-file
   operation. For ``copytree()``, the exception argument is a list of
   3-tuples (*srcname*, *dstname*, *exception*).


Example
=======

This example is the implementation of the ``copytree()`` function,
described above, with the docstring omitted.  It demonstrates many of
the other functions provided by this module.

   def copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False):
       names = os.listdir(src)
       os.makedirs(dst)
       errors = []
       for name in names:
           srcname = os.path.join(src, name)
           dstname = os.path.join(dst, name)
           try:
               if symlinks and os.path.islink(srcname):
                   linkto = os.readlink(srcname)
                   os.symlink(linkto, dstname)
               elif os.path.isdir(srcname):
                   copytree(srcname, dstname, symlinks)
               else:
                   copy2(srcname, dstname)
               # XXX What about devices, sockets etc.?
           except (IOError, os.error) as why:
               errors.append((srcname, dstname, str(why)))
           # catch the Error from the recursive copytree so that we can
           # continue with other files
           except Error as err:
               errors.extend(err.args[0])
       try:
           copystat(src, dst)
       except WindowsError:
           # can't copy file access times on Windows
           pass
       except OSError as why:
           errors.extend((src, dst, str(why)))
       if errors:
           raise Error(errors)
