How to copy a directory structure but only include

Question

As the title says, how can I recursively copy a directory structure but only include some files. E.g given the following directory structure:

folder1
  folder2
    folder3
      data.zip
      info.txt
      abc.xyz
    folder4
    folder5
      data.zip
      somefile.exe
      someotherfile.dll

The files data.zip and info.txt can appear everywhere in the directory structure. How can I copy the full directory structure, but only include files named data.zip and info.txt (all other files should be ignored)?

The resulting directory structure should look like this:

copy_of_folder1
  folder2
    folder3
      data.zip
      info.txt
    folder4
    folder5
      data.zip

Answer 1

Using WinRAR command line interface, you can copy the file names and/or file types to an archive. Then you can extract that archive to whatever location you like. This preserves the original file structure.

I needed to add missing album picture files to my mobile phone without having to recopy the music itself. Fortunately the directory structure was the same on my computer and mobile!

I used:

   rar a -r C:\Downloads\music.rar X:\music\Folder.jpg

• C:\Downloads\music.rar = Archive to be created
• X:\music\ = Folder containing music files
• Folder.jpg = Filename I wanted to copy

This created an archive with all the Folder.jpg files in the proper subdirectories.

This technique can be used to copy file types as well. If the files all had different names, you could choose to extract all files to a single directory. Additional command line parameters can archive multiple file types.

More information in this very helpful link http://cects.com/using-the-winrar-command-line-tools-in-windows/

Answer 2

Similar to Paulius' solution, but the files you don't care about are not copied then deleted:

@echo OFF

:: Replace c:\temp with the directory where folder1 resides.
cd c:\temp

:: You can make this more generic by passing in args for the source and destination folders.
for /f "usebackq" %%I in (`dir /b /s /a:-d folder1`) do @echo %%~nxI | find /V "data.zip" | find /v "info.txt" >> exclude_list.txt
xcopy folder1 copy_of_folder1 /EXCLUDE:exclude_list.txt /E /I

Answer 3

That's only two simple commands, but I wouldn't recommend this, unless the files that you DON'T need to copy are small. That's because this will copy ALL files and then remove the files that are not needed in the copy.

xcopy /E /I folder1 copy_of_folder1
for /F "tokens=1 delims=" %i in ('dir /B /S /A:-D copy_of_files ^| find /V "info.txt" ^| find /V "data.zip"') do del /Q "%i"

Sure, the second command is kind of long, but it works!

Also, this approach doesn't require you to download and install any third party tools (Windows 2000+ BATCH has enough commands for this).

Answer 4

Thanks To Previous Answers. :)

This script named "r4k4copy.cmd":

@echo off
for %%p in (SOURCE_DIR DEST_DIR FILENAMES_TO_COPY) do set %%p=
cls
echo :: Copy Files Including Folder Tree
echo :: http://stackoverflow.com
rem     /questions/472692/how-to-copy
rem     -a-directory-structure-but-only
rem     -include-certain-files-using-windows
echo :: ReScripted by r4k4
echo.
if "%1"=="" goto :NoParam
if "%2"=="" goto :NoParam
if "%3"=="" goto :NoParam
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set SOURCE_DIR=%1
set DEST_DIR=%2
set FILENAMES_TO_COPY=%3
for /R "%SOURCE_DIR%" %%F IN (%FILENAMES_TO_COPY%) do (
if exist "%%F" (
set FILE_DIR=%%~dpF
set FILE_INTERMEDIATE_DIR=!FILE_DIR:%SOURCE_DIR%=!
xcopy /E /I /Y "%%F" "%DEST_DIR%!FILE_INTERMEDIATE_DIR!"
)
)
goto :eof
:NoParam
echo.
echo Syntax: %0 [Source_DIR] [Dest_DIR] [FileName]
echo Eg.   : %0 D:\Root E:\Root\Lev1\Lev2\Lev3 *.JPG
echo Means : Copy *.JPG from D:\Root to E:\Root\Lev1\Lev2\Lev3

It accepts variable of "Source", "Destination", and "FileName". It also can only copying specified type of files or selective filenames.

Any improvement are welcome. :)

Answer 5

To copy all text files to G: and preserve directory structure:

xcopy *.txt /s G:

Answer 6

An alternate solution that copies one file at a time and does not require ROBOCOPY:

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set SOURCE_DIR=C:\Source
set DEST_DIR=C:\Destination
set FILENAMES_TO_COPY=data.zip info.txt

for /R "%SOURCE_DIR%" %%F IN (%FILENAMES_TO_COPY%) do (
    if exist "%%F" (
        set FILE_DIR=%%~dpF
        set FILE_INTERMEDIATE_DIR=!FILE_DIR:%SOURCE_DIR%=!
        xcopy /E /I /Y "%%F" "%DEST_DIR%!FILE_INTERMEDIATE_DIR!"
    )
)

The outer for statement generates any possible path combination of subdirectory in SOURCE_DIR and name in FILENAMES_TO_COPY. For each existing file xcopy is invoked. FILE_INTERMEDIATE_DIR holds the file's subdirectory path within SOURCE_DIR which needs to be created in DEST_DIR.