cp -r: trigger "No such file or directory" error instead of creating "dst"

Question

Case 1: If dst does not exist, then cp -vr src dst creates dst and copies all the content from src to dst:

$ cp -vr src dst
'src' -> 'dst'
'src/t0.c' -> 'dst/t0.c'

Case 2: If dst does exist, then cp -vr src dst creates dst/src and copies all the content from src to dst/src:

$ cp -vr src dst
'src' -> 'dst/src'
'src/t0.c' -> 'dst/src/t0.c'

Question: For case 1: is there any option that will make cp trigger No such file or directory error instead of creating dst?

Related if not a duplicate - How to copy a folder recursively in an idempotent way using cp? — Chris Davies, Sep 26 '20 at 22:32
↑ it doesn't generate an error but it makes cp work in a consistent manner regardless of whether or not dst exists — Chris Davies, Sep 26 '20 at 22:33

score 3 · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-26T22:47:32.837

3

With the cp of GNU coreutils:

cp -rt dst src/.

Notice the reverse order of the arguments -- in fact, dst is an argument of the -t, --target-directory option.

edited Sep 26 '20 at 22:47

answered Sep 26 '20 at 22:12

1 Answers1