std::filesystem::copy_options

Defined in header `<filesystem>`
enum class copy_options { none = 0, skip_existing = 1, overwrite_existing = 2, update_existing = 4, recursive = 8, copy_symlinks = 16, skip_symlinks = 32, directories_only = 64, create_symlinks = 128, create_hard_links = 256 };		(since C++17)

This type represents available options that control the behavior of the copy() and copy_file() function.

copy_options satisfies the requirements of BitmaskType (which means the bitwise operators operator&, operator|, operator^, operator~, operator&=, operator|=, and operator^= are defined for this type)

[edit] Member constants

At most one copy option in each of the following options groups may be present, otherwise the behavior of the copy functions is undefined.

Member constant	Value	Meaning
options controlling `copy_file()` when the file already exists
`none`	0	Report an error (default behavior)
`skip_existing`	1	Keep the existing file, without reporting an error.
`overwrite_existing`	2	Replace the existing file
`update_existing`	4	Replace the existing file only if it is older than the file being copied
options controlling the effects of `copy()` on subdirectories
`none`	0	Skip subdirectories (default behavior)
`recursive`	8	Recursively copy subdirectories and their content
options controlling the effects of `copy()` on symbolic links
`none`	0	Follow symlinks (default behavior)
`copy_symlinks`	16	Copy symlinks as symlinks, not as the files they point to
`skip_symlinks`	32	Ignore symlinks
options controlling the kind of copying `copy()` does
`none`	0	Copy file content (default behavior)
`directories_only`	64	Copy the directory structure, but do not copy any non-directory files
`create_symlinks`	128	Instead of creating copies of files, create symlinks pointing to the originals. Note: the source path must be an absolute path unless the destination path is in the current directory.
`create_hard_links`	256	Instead of creating copies of files, create hardlinks that resolve to the same files as the originals

[edit] Example

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <filesystem>
namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
int main()
{
    fs::create_directories("sandbox/dir/subdir");
    std::ofstream("sandbox/file1.txt").put('a');
    fs::copy("sandbox/file1.txt", "sandbox/file2.txt"); // copy file
    fs::copy("sandbox/dir", "sandbox/dir2"); // copy directory (non-recursive)
    // sandbox holds 2 files and 2 directories, one of which has a subdirectory
    // sandbox/file1.txt
    // sandbox/file2.txt
    // sandbox/dir2
    // sandbox/dir
    //    sandbox/dir/subdir
    fs::copy("sandbox", "sandbox/copy", fs::copy_options::recursive);
    // sandbox/copy holds copies of the above files and subdirectories
    fs::remove_all("sandbox");
}

[edit] See also

copy (C++17)	copies files or directories (function)
copy_file (C++17)	copies file contents (function)

Language
Standard library headers
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Utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Algorithms library
Iterators library
Numerics library
Input/output library
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Regular expressions library (C++11)
Atomic operations library (C++11)
Thread support library (C++11)
Filesystem library (C++17)
Technical Specifications