How do I copy an entire directory of files into an

Question

Run the following code from a directory that contains a directory named bar (containing one or more files) and a directory named baz (also containing one or more files). Make sure there is not a directory named foo.

import shutil
shutil.copytree('bar', 'foo')
shutil.copytree('baz', 'foo')

It will fail with:

$ python copytree_test.py 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "copytree_test.py", line 5, in <module>
    shutil.copytree('baz', 'foo')
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/shutil.py", line 110, in copytree
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/os.py", line 172, in makedirs
OSError: [Errno 17] File exists: 'foo'

I want this to work the same way as if I had typed:

$ mkdir foo
$ cp bar/* foo/
$ cp baz/* foo/

Do I need to use shutil.copy() to copy each file in baz into foo? (After I've already copied the contents of 'bar' into 'foo' with shutil.copytree()?) Or is there an easier/better way?

Answer 1

Here is my version of the same task::

import os, glob, shutil

def make_dir(path):
    if not os.path.isdir(path):
        os.mkdir(path)


def copy_dir(source_item, destination_item):
    if os.path.isdir(source_item):
        make_dir(destination_item)
        sub_items = glob.glob(source_item + '/*')
        for sub_item in sub_items:
            copy_dir(sub_item, destination_item + '/' + sub_item.split('/')[-1])
    else:
        shutil.copy(source_item, destination_item)

Answer 2

This is inspired from the original best answer provided by atzz, I just added replace file / folder logic. So it doesn't actually merge, but deletes the existing file/ folder and copies the new one:

import shutil
import os
def copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False, ignore=None):
    for item in os.listdir(src):
        s = os.path.join(src, item)
        d = os.path.join(dst, item)
        if os.path.exists(d):
            try:
                shutil.rmtree(d)
            except Exception as e:
                print e
                os.unlink(d)
        if os.path.isdir(s):
            shutil.copytree(s, d, symlinks, ignore)
        else:
            shutil.copy2(s, d)
    #shutil.rmtree(src)

Uncomment the rmtree to make it a move function.

Answer 3

Here is my pass at the problem. I modified the source code for copytree to keep the original functionality, but now no error occurs when the directory already exists. I also changed it so it doesn't overwrite existing files but rather keeps both copies, one with a modified name, since this was important for my application.

import shutil
import os


def _copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False, ignore=None):
    """
    This is an improved version of shutil.copytree which allows writing to
    existing folders and does not overwrite existing files but instead appends
    a ~1 to the file name and adds it to the destination path.
    """

    names = os.listdir(src)
    if ignore is not None:
        ignored_names = ignore(src, names)
    else:
        ignored_names = set()

    if not os.path.exists(dst):
        os.makedirs(dst)
        shutil.copystat(src, dst)
    errors = []
    for name in names:
        if name in ignored_names:
            continue
        srcname = os.path.join(src, name)
        dstname = os.path.join(dst, name)
        i = 1
        while os.path.exists(dstname) and not os.path.isdir(dstname):
            parts = name.split('.')
            file_name = ''
            file_extension = parts[-1]
            # make a new file name inserting ~1 between name and extension
            for j in range(len(parts)-1):
                file_name += parts[j]
                if j < len(parts)-2:
                    file_name += '.'
            suffix = file_name + '~' + str(i) + '.' + file_extension
            dstname = os.path.join(dst, suffix)
            i+=1
        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, ignore)
            else:
                shutil.copy2(srcname, dstname)
        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 BaseException as err:
            errors.extend(err.args[0])
    try:
        shutil.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 BaseException(errors)

Answer 4

i would assume fastest and simplest way would be have python call the system commands...

example..

import os
cmd = '<command line call>'
os.system(cmd)

Tar and gzip up the directory.... unzip and untar the directory in the desired place.

yah?

Answer 5

Here is a version inspired by this thread that more closely mimics distutils.file_util.copy_file.

updateonly is a bool if True, will only copy files with modified dates newer than existing files in dst unless listed in forceupdate which will copy regardless.

ignore and forceupdate expect lists of filenames or folder/filenames relative to src and accept Unix-style wildcards similar to glob or fnmatch.

The function returns a list of files copied (or would be copied if dryrun if True).

import os
import shutil
import fnmatch
import stat
import itertools

def copyToDir(src, dst, updateonly=True, symlinks=True, ignore=None, forceupdate=None, dryrun=False):

    def copySymLink(srclink, destlink):
        if os.path.lexists(destlink):
            os.remove(destlink)
        os.symlink(os.readlink(srclink), destlink)
        try:
            st = os.lstat(srclink)
            mode = stat.S_IMODE(st.st_mode)
            os.lchmod(destlink, mode)
        except OSError:
            pass  # lchmod not available
    fc = []
    if not os.path.exists(dst) and not dryrun:
        os.makedirs(dst)
        shutil.copystat(src, dst)
    if ignore is not None:
        ignorepatterns = [os.path.join(src, *x.split('/')) for x in ignore]
    else:
        ignorepatterns = []
    if forceupdate is not None:
        forceupdatepatterns = [os.path.join(src, *x.split('/')) for x in forceupdate]
    else:
        forceupdatepatterns = []
    srclen = len(src)
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(src):
        fullsrcfiles = [os.path.join(root, x) for x in files]
        t = root[srclen+1:]
        dstroot = os.path.join(dst, t)
        fulldstfiles = [os.path.join(dstroot, x) for x in files]
        excludefiles = list(itertools.chain.from_iterable([fnmatch.filter(fullsrcfiles, pattern) for pattern in ignorepatterns]))
        forceupdatefiles = list(itertools.chain.from_iterable([fnmatch.filter(fullsrcfiles, pattern) for pattern in forceupdatepatterns]))
        for directory in dirs:
            fullsrcdir = os.path.join(src, directory)
            fulldstdir = os.path.join(dstroot, directory)
            if os.path.islink(fullsrcdir):
                if symlinks and dryrun is False:
                    copySymLink(fullsrcdir, fulldstdir)
            else:
                if not os.path.exists(directory) and dryrun is False:
                    os.makedirs(os.path.join(dst, dir))
                    shutil.copystat(src, dst)
        for s,d in zip(fullsrcfiles, fulldstfiles):
            if s not in excludefiles:
                if updateonly:
                    go = False
                    if os.path.isfile(d):
                        srcdate = os.stat(s).st_mtime
                        dstdate = os.stat(d).st_mtime
                        if srcdate > dstdate:
                            go = True
                    else:
                        go = True
                    if s in forceupdatefiles:
                        go = True
                    if go is True:
                        fc.append(d)
                        if not dryrun:
                            if os.path.islink(s) and symlinks is True:
                                copySymLink(s, d)
                            else:
                                shutil.copy2(s, d)
                else:
                    fc.append(d)
                    if not dryrun:
                        if os.path.islink(s) and symlinks is True:
                            copySymLink(s, d)
                        else:
                            shutil.copy2(s, d)
    return fc

Answer 6

Here's a solution that's part of the standard library.

from distutils.dir_util import copy_tree
copy_tree("/a/b/c", "/x/y/z")

See this similar question.

Copy directory contents into a directory with python

• Reference - https://docs.python.org/2/distutils/apiref.html#distutils.dir_util.copy_tree