How Do I Copy Files in Python and Preserve Metadata?

Copying Files in Python

Copying Files

To copy a file in Python, the shutil module provides several methods. One commonly used method is shutil.copyfile():

import shutil

shutil.copyfile('src_file_path', 'dest_file_path')

Here, you specify the source file path as src_file_path and the destination file path as dest_file_path.

Note:

• Both paths must include the file names with extensions.
• The destination location must allow writing or an IOError exception will occur.
• If the destination file already exists, it will be overwritten.
• Special files like devices or pipes cannot be copied using shutil.copyfile().

Preserving Metadata

If you need to preserve file metadata like time stamps, use the shutil.copy2() method:

shutil.copy2('src_file_path', 'dest_file_path')

Using os.path

If you prefer to use the os.path module, use the copy function instead of copyfile. However, keep in mind that copy accepts path names as str while copyfile only accepts strings.

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