🧩 safe_cp

A safe and interactive file/directory copy tool written in C, designed as a safer alternative to the Unix cp command. It automatically resolves relative paths, asks before overwriting, and supports inline renaming using a simple syntax.

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🚀 Features

✅ Copy multiple files and directories in one command
✅ Recursively copy directories
✅ Handles relative paths (., .., ./, ../)
✅ Automatically creates missing directories
✅ Interactive overwrite prompt
✅ Inline renaming with : syntax
✅ Prevents dangerous operations:
    • Copying /
    • Copying a directory into its child

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⚙️ Usage

safe_cp -s <source1> <source2> ... -d <destination_directory>

Options

Option	Description
-s	One or more source paths (files or directories)
-d	Destination directory (created if missing)
-h, --help	Show help message

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Inline Rename

Rename a file or directory during copy:

safe_cp -s ./file.txt:newname.txt -d ./backup

⚠️ Important: The new name must not contain :.

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Examples

# Copy files to another directory
safe_cp -s ./a.txt ./b.txt -d ../backup

# Copy directories recursively
safe_cp -s ./dir1 ./dir2 -d ./copy_here

# Rename while copying
safe_cp -s ./old.txt:new.txt -d ./folder

# Copy using relative paths
safe_cp -s ../docs -d ./backup/docs

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🧠 Internals

• Uses realpath(), stat(), and opendir() for filesystem operations.
• Supports reading user input interactively for overwrite confirmation.
• Uses open(), read(), write() for manual buffered file copying (4 KB chunks).
• Manages memory dynamically for flexible path manipulation.

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🛡️ Safety

• Prevents copying /
• Prevents recursive copying (parent → child)
• Prompts before overwrite
• Creates missing directories safely
• Avoids overwriting directories with files or vice versa

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🧑‍💻 Compilation

Compile with:

gcc safe_cp.c -o safe_cp

Run:

./safe_cp -s file1 dir2 -d /path/to/destination

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