COPY

The COPY command copies selected records from one file to another, or within the same file. COPYI is normally a synonym but see the discussion below.

tgt.file

is the file to which the records are to be copied. If omitted, records are copied within the src.file.

tgt.rec

is the name of the record to which src.rec is to be copied. If omitted, the record is not renamed.

ALL	Copy all records from src.file to tgt.file. This option cannot be used with named records or a select list.

BINARY

Copy data in binary mode, suppressing translation between field marks and newlines when copying between a hashed file and a directory file in either direction. This mode is implied if both are directory files unless the TEXT option is used.

NEWLINE mode

Specifies the line terminator to be used when copying a text item. The mode may be LF or CRLF. Use of this option implies TEXT. The target file must be a directory file.

NO.QUERY

Suppresses confirmation prompt when using a select list. The NO.SEL.LIST.QUERY mode of the OPTION command can be used to imply this option.

OVERWRITING

Overwrite existing record(s) of the same name in tgt.file. Without this option, records which already exist are not copied. This option may not be used with UPDATING.

TEXT

Copy data in text mode, translating between field marks and newlines when copying between a hashed file and a directory file in either direction. This option is also needed to override implied binary mode when copying between directory files where the newline representation of the source and target are different (e.g. Windows to Linux).

UPDATING

Only copy records if they already exist in the target file. This option may not be used with OVERWRITING.

Any number of source and target record pairs may be specified. If all records in the file are to be copied, the keyword ALL may be used in place of specified record names.

If no source records are specified and the default select list is active, this list is used to determine the records to be copied. A confirmation prompt is issued before copying commences unless the NO.QUERY keyword is used.

The COPY command does not normally overwrite existing records. The keyword OVERWRITING allows this operation. Thus a command of the form

Conversely, the keyword UPDATING copies records only if they already exist in the target file.

The DELETING keyword causes COPY to delete records from the source file after they have been successfully copied to the target file.

The TO.LOWERCASE and TO.UPPERCASE options can be useful when copying directory file items from a platform with a case insensitive file system (e.g.Windows) to a platform with a case sensitive file system (e.g. Linux), forcing the casing of the new record to be as specified.

@SYSTEM.RETURN.CODE is returned as the number of records copied or a negative error code.

The COPY command can be used with data collections but if either of the source and target files is a data collection, both must be.

Users migrating from Pick style systems frequently use ALIAS to make COPY a synonym for COPYP, the Pick syntax copy command. QM also provides COPYI as a way to force use of the Information style syntax.

This command copies all records from the NEWVOC file to the VOC, replacing existing records of the same name. This could be used, for example, if the VOC had been damaged by an accidental deletion of some standard records.