MirBSD manpage: mv(1)

MV(1)                        BSD Reference Manual                        MV(1)

NAME

     mv - move files

SYNOPSIS

     mv [-fi] source target
     mv [-fi] source ... directory

DESCRIPTION

     In its first form, the mv utility renames the file named by the source
     operand to the destination path named by the target operand. This form is
     assumed when the last operand does not name an already existing directo-
     ry.

     In its second form, mv moves each file named by a source operand to a
     destination file in the existing directory named by the 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.

     The options are as follows:

     -f      Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
             path.

     -i      Causes mv 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 at-
             tempted.

     The last of any -f or -i options is the one which affects mv's behavior.

     It is an error for either the source operand or the destination path to
     specify a directory unless both do.

     If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing, mv
     prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the -i option.

     As the rename(2) call does not work across filesystems, mv uses cp(1) and
     rm(1) to accomplish the move. The effect is equivalent to:

           $ rm -f destination_path && \
           cp -PRp source_file destination && \
           rm -rf source_file

     The mv utility exits 0 on success or >0 if an error occurred.

EXAMPLES

     $ mv -f foo bar

     Rename file foo to bar, overwriting bar if it already exists.

     $ mv -i -- -f bar
     $ mv -i ./-f bar

     Either of these commands will rename the file -f to bar, prompting for
     confirmation if bar already exists.

SEE ALSO

     cp(1), symlink(7)

STANDARDS

     The mv utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 ("POSIX.2") compatible.

HISTORY

     A mv command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

MirBSD #10-current               May 31, 1993                                1