CopyFile

The CopyFile function copies an existing file to a new file.

The CopyFileEx function provides two additional capabilities. CopyFileEx can call a specified callback function each time a portion of the copy operation is completed, and CopyFileEx can be canceled during the copy operation.

BOOL CopyFile(
  LPCTSTR lpExistingFileName, // name of an existing file
  LPCTSTR lpNewFileName,      // name of new file
  BOOL bFailIfExists          // operation if file exists
);

Parameters

lpExistingFileName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the name of an existing file.

Windows NT/2000: In the ANSI version of this function, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to nearly 32,000 wide characters, call the Unicode version of the function and prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see File Name Conventions.

Windows 95/98: This string must not exceed MAX_PATH characters.

lpNewFileName

[in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the name of the new file.

Windows NT/2000: In the ANSI version of this function, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to nearly 32,000 wide characters, call the Unicode version of the function and prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see File Name Conventions.

Windows 95/98: This string must not exceed MAX_PATH characters.

bFailIfExists

[in] Specifies how this operation is to proceed if a file of the same name as that specified by lpNewFileName already exists. If this parameter is TRUE and the new file already exists, the function fails. If this parameter is FALSE and the new file already exists, the function overwrites the existing file and succeeds.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

Security attributes for the existing file are not copied to the new file.

File attributes for the existing file are copied to the new file. For example, if an existing file has the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY file attribute, a copy created through a call to CopyFile will also have the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY file attribute.

MAPI: For more information, see Syntax and Limitations for Win32 Functions Useful in MAPI Development.

Requirements

  Windows NT/2000: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later.
  Windows 95/98: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Header: Declared in Winbase.h; include Windows.h.
  Library: Use Kernel32.lib.
  Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT/2000.

See Also

File I/O Overview, File I/O Functions, CopyFileEx, CreateFile, MoveFile