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Number   :  3190
Date     :  2002-12-03
Author   :  Kan Yabumoto
Subject  :  Re: copying directory structure
Size(KB) :  1



The /SC switch is an advanced feature only for NTFS to NTFS
copying with security info to be transferred.
But, before getting into the advanced feature, let us
start with the basic.

/S // subdirectories included (but not empty directories)
/E // subdirectories even if it's empty

An /E has an implicit /S in it even without having a /S switch.

So, your command line should be

xxcopy c:\test\ e:\ /S

Will copy all files and subdirectories inside the c:\test\ dir.
Note that I added the trailing backslash to the source directory
name. This is due to the fact that the command line syntax
has a mostly-undesirable ambiguity. When you say

xxcopy c:\test e:\ /S

The command could be interpreted in two ways:

1. source directory: c:\test\
filename pattern: * (everything)

2. source directory: c:\ (the root == the whole volume)
filename pattern: test (even without a wildcard)

The distinction of the two is made by testing the object,
C:\test as you entered. If it exists and if it is a directory,
Case 1 will be chosen (as you intended). But, if C:\test
is either a file in the root directory, or no such object
(file or directory) exists in the root directory, then, it
will be interpreted in Case 2 (with a warning because this
is a root directory case).

The ambiguity is inherited from Microsoft's Xcopy and we
cannot do anything about it. But, there is a simple method
to avoid this ambiguity. Just form a habit of adding the
trailing backslash whenever you mean it to be a directory name.
Note any name could be a filename pattern even without a
wildcard.

Kan Yabumoto
============================================================

At 2002-12-03 13:35, you wrote:
>I'm playing around and can't seem to figure out how to copy a parent
>dir.
>
>Example: xxcopy c:\test e:\ /SC
>
>What I want is for the "test" dir and everything below to be copied,
>but so far I only get the contents of "test" and not the
>actual "test" folder.
>
>Am I missing something simple?
>
>Thanks



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