cp-deep

#!/bin/bash
#
# cp-deep - Copy file from SOURCE(s) to DESTINATION, creating path if needed
#
#    Copyright (C) 2011 Rodrigo Silva (MestreLion) <linux@rodrigosilva.com>
#
#    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
#    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
#    (at your option) any later version.
#
#    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#    GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
#
# Huge thanks to all the gurus and friends in irc://irc.freenet.org/#bash
# and the contributors of http://mywiki.wooledge.org/
# Special thanks to dualbus, geirha and sn18.
#
# Description:
#
# cp-deep works like regular cp, copying files from SOURCE(S) to DESTINATION
# But it also creates destination path if it does not exist - using mkdir
# with --parent DEST - thus allowing copied files to be "deep" in the tree
#
#
# USE WITH CAUTION! PAY ATTENTION TO TRAILLING "/" IN DEST!!!
#
#
# Original cp allows optional use of trailing "/" in DEST,
# as it checks if DEST is an existing dir to decide whether DEST means
# "copy file to /foo/bar/" or "copy to /foo/ and rename file to bar"
#
# Since cpdeep allows DEST dir to be created, one must explicitly use
# trailing "/" in DEST when dir is to be created and file not renamed. So:
#
# cp-deep file /foo/bar/ = create /foo/bar and copy file there = /foo/bar/file
# cp-deep file /foo/bar  = create /foo and copy file as bar = /foo/bar
#
# To avoid common errors, explicit use of trailing "/" is not needed when:
# -SOURCE are multiple files (DEST assumed to be dir regardless of trailing /)
# -DEST exists and is a dir = copy SOURCE there, do not rename
# -DEST exists and is a file = copy SOURCE over DEST (SOURCE must be single file)
#
# So be sure to properly include or not trailling "/" when SOURCE is single file
# and DEST does not exist

(( $# >= 2 )) || {
	echo "${0##*/}: missing parameters. usage: ${0##*/} SOURCE... DEST" >&2
	exit 1
}

dest="${@:(-1)}" # Last argument

# Special handling of DEST only needed when SOURCE is a single file
# and there is at least one "/" in it. For same dir copies, no mkdir needed
[[ $# = 2 ]] && { [[ "$dest" = */* ]] && dest="${dest%/*}/" || dest="" ; }

[[ "$dest" ]] && { mkdir --parent -- "$dest" || exit ; }

cp --no-preserve=mode,ownership "$@"