netbsd man page for mv

MV(1)							    BSD General Commands Manual 						     MV(1)

NAME
     mv -- move files

SYNOPSIS
     mv [-fiv] source target
     mv [-fiv] 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 directory.

     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 oper-
     and.  The destination path for each operand is the pathname produced by the concatenation of the last operand, a slash, and the final path-
     name component of the named file.

     The following options are available:

     -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 attempted.

     -v    Cause mv to be verbose, showing files as they are processed.

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

     It is an error for any of the source operands to specify a nonexistent file or directory.

     It is an error for the source operand to specify a directory if the target exists and is not a directory.

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

     Should the rename(2) call fail because source and target are on different file systems, mv will remove the destination file, copy the source
     file to the destination, and then remove the source.  The effect is roughly equivalent to:

	   rm -f destination_path && 
	   cp -PRp source_file destination_path && 
	   rm -rf source_file

EXIT STATUS
     The mv utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO
     cp(1), rename(2), symlink(7)

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

     The -v option is an extension to IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'').

BSD
								 December 26, 2002							       BSD