> Yeah, but at the most basic level, the existing file must be removed before a > new one with the same name can be put in its place. aha.. ok. another case of UNIX letting you shoot yourself in the leg, and hoping that you learn from the experience. :) > Now, pipe the command into " | cpio -pdumva .", which basically is the > same thing as applying that copyin routine above. The targets now become: > ./../test > ./../test/file1 > ./../test/file2 > ./../test/file3 > ./../test/file4 > > Since the source file "../test/file1" _is_ the target "./../test/file1", > once again, "./../test/file1" is removed before it can be written. > > The directory isn't removed because copying a directory with "cpio -pdumva" > is basically a "mkdir" followed by a "touch". > > > BTW: Note that if instead, you had done: > > cd /var/tmp/test > find . -print | cpio -pdumva ../test > > you'd have gotten what you expected. aha... ok. I think I see now. thanks much. :) Carl. -- Network Engineer Real-Time Enterprises (952) 943-8700