4.2BSD/usr/man/man1/cp.1

Compare this file to the similar file:
Show the results in this format: 

.TH CP 1 "1 April 1982"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
cp \- copy
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B cp
[
.B \-i
] [
.B \-r
] file1 file2
.PP
.B cp
[
.B \-i
] [
.B \-r
] file ... directory
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I File1
is copied onto
.IR file2 .
The mode and owner of  
.I file2
are preserved if it already
existed; the mode of the source file
is used otherwise.
.PP
In the second form, one or more
.I files
are copied into the
.I directory
with their original file-names.
.PP
.I Cp
refuses to copy a file onto itself.
.PP
If the 
.B \-i
option is specified, 
.I cp
will prompt the user with the name of the file
whenever the copy will cause an old file to be
overwritten. An answer of 'y' will cause 
.I cp
to continue. Any other answer will prevent it
from overwriting the file.
.PP
If the
.B \-r
option is specified and any of the source files are directories,
.I cp
copies each subtree rooted at that name; in this case
the destination must be a directory.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
cat(1), pr(1), mv(1)