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

**Source code:** Lib/shutil.py

======================================================================

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()``) cannot 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.


Directory and files operations
==============================

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, copy_function=copy2, ignore_dangling_symlinks=False)

   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.

   When *symlinks* is false, if the file pointed by the symlink
   doesn't exist, a exception will be added in the list of errors
   raised in a ``Error`` exception at the end of the copy process. You
   can set the optional *ignore_dangling_symlinks* flag to true if you
   want to silence this exception. Notice that this option has no
   effect on platforms that don't support ``os.symlink()``.

   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.

   If *copy_function* is given, it must be a callable that will be
   used to copy each file. It will be called with the source path and
   the destination path as arguments. By default, ``copy2()`` is used,
   but any function that supports the same signature (like ``copy()``)
   can be used.

   Changed in version 3.2: Added the *copy_function* argument to be
   able to provide a custom copy function.

   Changed in version 3.2: Added the *ignore_dangling_symlinks*
   argument to silent dangling symlinks errors when *symlinks* is
   false.

shutil.rmtree(path, ignore_errors=False, onerror=None)

   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*).


copytree 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)

Another example that uses the ``ignore_patterns()`` helper:

   from shutil import copytree, ignore_patterns

   copytree(source, destination, ignore=ignore_patterns('*.pyc', 'tmp*'))

This will copy everything except ``.pyc`` files and files or
directories whose name starts with ``tmp``.

Another example that uses the *ignore* argument to add a logging call:

   from shutil import copytree
   import logging

   def _logpath(path, names):
       logging.info('Working in %s' % path)
       return []   # nothing will be ignored

   copytree(source, destination, ignore=_logpath)


Archiving operations
====================

shutil.make_archive(base_name, format[, root_dir[, base_dir[, verbose[, dry_run[, owner[, group[, logger]]]]]]])

   Create an archive file (such as zip or tar) and return its name.

   *base_name* is the name of the file to create, including the path,
   minus any format-specific extension. *format* is the archive
   format: one of "zip", "tar", "bztar" (if the ``bz2`` module is
   available) or "gztar".

   *root_dir* is a directory that will be the root directory of the
   archive; for example, we typically chdir into *root_dir* before
   creating the archive.

   *base_dir* is the directory where we start archiving from; i.e.
   *base_dir* will be the common prefix of all files and directories
   in the archive.

   *root_dir* and *base_dir* both default to the current directory.

   *owner* and *group* are used when creating a tar archive. By
   default, uses the current owner and group.

   *logger* is an instance of ``logging.Logger``.

   New in version 3.2.

shutil.get_archive_formats()

   Returns a list of supported formats for archiving. Each element of
   the returned sequence is a tuple ``(name, description)``

   By default ``shutil`` provides these formats:

   * *gztar*: gzip'ed tar-file

   * *bztar*: bzip2'ed tar-file (if the ``bz2`` module is available.)

   * *tar*: uncompressed tar file

   * *zip*: ZIP file

   You can register new formats or provide your own archiver for any
   existing formats, by using ``register_archive_format()``.

   New in version 3.2.

shutil.register_archive_format(name, function[, extra_args[, description]])

   Registers an archiver for the format *name*. *function* is a
   callable that will be used to invoke the archiver.

   If given, *extra_args* is a sequence of ``(name, value)`` pairs
   that will be used as extra keywords arguments when the archiver
   callable is used.

   *description* is used by ``get_archive_formats()`` which returns
   the list of archivers. Defaults to an empty list.

   New in version 3.2.

shutil.unregister_archive_format(name)

   Remove the archive format *name* from the list of supported
   formats.

   New in version 3.2.

shutil.unpack_archive(filename[, extract_dir[, format]])

   Unpack an archive. *filename* is the full path of the archive.

   *extract_dir* is the name of the target directory where the archive
   is unpacked. If not provided, the current working directory is
   used.

   *format* is the archive format: one of "zip", "tar", or "gztar". Or
   any other format registered with ``register_unpack_format()``. If
   not provided, ``unpack_archive()`` will use the archive file name
   extension and see if an unpacker was registered for that extension.
   In case none is found, a ``ValueError`` is raised.

   New in version 3.2.

shutil.register_unpack_format(name, extensions, function[, extra_args[, description]])

   Registers an unpack format. *name* is the name of the format and
   *extensions* is a list of extensions corresponding to the format,
   like ``.zip`` for Zip files.

   *function* is the callable that will be used to unpack archives.
   The callable will receive the path of the archive, followed by the
   directory the archive must be extracted to.

   When provided, *extra_args* is a sequence of ``(name, value)``
   tuples that will be passed as keywords arguments to the callable.

   *description* can be provided to describe the format, and will be
   returned by the ``get_unpack_formats()`` function.

   New in version 3.2.

shutil.unregister_unpack_format(name)

   Unregister an unpack format. *name* is the name of the format.

   New in version 3.2.

shutil.get_unpack_formats()

   Return a list of all registered formats for unpacking. Each element
   of the returned sequence is a tuple ``(name, extensions,
   description)``.

   By default ``shutil`` provides these formats:

   * *gztar*: gzip'ed tar-file

   * *bztar*: bzip2'ed tar-file (if the ``bz2`` module is available.)

   * *tar*: uncompressed tar file

   * *zip*: ZIP file

   You can register new formats or provide your own unpacker for any
   existing formats, by using ``register_unpack_format()``.

   New in version 3.2.


Archiving example
-----------------

In this example, we create a gzip'ed tar-file archive containing all
files found in the ``.ssh`` directory of the user:

   >>> from shutil import make_archive
   >>> import os
   >>> archive_name = os.path.expanduser(os.path.join('~', 'myarchive'))
   >>> root_dir = os.path.expanduser(os.path.join('~', '.ssh'))
   >>> make_archive(archive_name, 'gztar', root_dir)
   '/Users/tarek/myarchive.tar.gz'

The resulting archive contains:

   $ tar -tzvf /Users/tarek/myarchive.tar.gz
   drwx------ tarek/staff       0 2010-02-01 16:23:40 ./
   -rw-r--r-- tarek/staff     609 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./authorized_keys
   -rwxr-xr-x tarek/staff      65 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./config
   -rwx------ tarek/staff     668 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./id_dsa
   -rwxr-xr-x tarek/staff     609 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./id_dsa.pub
   -rw------- tarek/staff    1675 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./id_rsa
   -rw-r--r-- tarek/staff     397 2008-06-09 13:26:54 ./id_rsa.pub
   -rw-r--r-- tarek/staff   37192 2010-02-06 18:23:10 ./known_hosts
