Minimal command to make a copy of a file

Question

I often find myself copy-pasting long path in order to create a copy of a file

cp /path/to/file/file1 /path/to/file/file1.bkp

Is there an alternative utility that will NOT require me to type the path/to/file twice? Something like -

nameOfExecutible /path/to/file/file1 'bkp'

Note: I don't want to do a cd to file1s parent directory.

How is this Question about copying files (with `cp` being the solution) a duplicate of a Question about using path within `mv` command? I suggest this valuable Question be re-opened. — Basil Bourque, Jul 23 '19 at 21:50

score 36 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 05 '13 at 03:04

36

Yes,

cp /path/to/file/file1{,.kbp}

That will get expanded automatically to cp /path/to/file/file1 /path/to/file/file1.kbp

answered Mar 05 '13 at 03:04

daisy

1

Thanks. That saves so much time! Is there a terminology for those brackets? – user13107 Mar 05 '13 at 03:10
8

The bash shell is expanding the expression in the curly braces prior to exec'ing cp. You can find it covered in the bash manual, or google for "bash brace expansion" – Tim B Mar 05 '13 at 03:21
bash brace expansion [url](https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Brace-Expansion.html) – user3804598 Sep 14 '21 at 08:27

1 Answers1