NetBSD/bin/mv/mv.1

.\"	$NetBSD: mv.1,v 1.21 2002/12/28 21:16:49 wiz Exp $
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.\"	@(#)mv.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
.\"
.Dd December 26, 2002
.Dt MV 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm mv
.Nd move files
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl fiv
.Ar source target
.Nm ""
.Op Fl fiv
.Ar source ... directory
.Sh DESCRIPTION
In its first form, the
.Nm
utility renames the file named by the
.Ar source
operand to the destination path named by the
.Ar target
operand.
This form is assumed when the last operand does not name an already
existing directory.
.Pp
In its second form,
.Nm
moves each file named by a
.Ar source
operand to a destination file in the existing directory named by the
.Ar directory
operand.
The destination path for each operand is the pathname produced by the
concatenation of the last operand, a slash, and the final pathname
component of the named file.
.Pp
The following options are available:
.Bl -tag -width flag
.It Fl f
Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
path.
.It Fl i
Causes
.Nm
to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file that would
overwrite an existing file.
If the response from the standard input begins with the character ``y'',
the move is attempted.
.It Fl v
Cause
.Nm
to be verbose, showing files as they are processed.
.El
The last of any
.Fl f
or
.Fl i
options is the one which affects
.Nm Ns 's
behavior.
.Pp
It is an error for any of the
.Ar source
operands to specify a nonexistent file or directory.
.Pp
It is an error for the
.Ar source
operand to specify a directory if the
.Ar target
exists and is not a directory.
.Pp
If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing,
.Nm
prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the
.Fl i
option.
.Pp
Should the
.Xr rename  2
call fail because
.Ar source
and
.Ar target
are on different file systems,
.Nm
will remove the destination file, copy the source file to the
destination, and then remove the source.
The effect is roughly equivalent to:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
rm -f destination_path \*[Am]\*[Am] \e
\tcp -PRp source_file destination_path \*[Am]\*[Am] \e
\trm -rf source_file
.Ed
.Sh EXIT STATUS
The
.Nm
utility exits 0 on success, and \*[Gt]0 if an error occurs.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr cp 1 ,
.Xr rename 2 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is expected to be
.St -p1003.2
compatible.
.Pp
The
.Fl v
option is an extension to
.St -p1003.2 .