FileSystemEntry: copyTo() method

Deprecated

Avoid using this feature in new projects. This feature may be a candidate for removal from web standards or browsers.

Non-standard: This feature is not standardized. We do not recommend using non-standard features in production, as they have limited browser support, and may change or be removed. However, they can be a suitable alternative in specific cases where no standard option exists.

The FileSystemEntry interface's method copyTo() copies the file specified by the entry to a new location on the file system.

There are some typical restrictions on what you can do:

  • A directory can't be copied into itself.
  • An entry can't be copied into its parent directory unless you specify a new name.
  • When copying a directory, the copy is always recursive; you can't leave out subfolders.

Syntax

js
copyTo(newParent)
copyTo(newParent, newName)
copyTo(newParent, newName, successCallback)
copyTo(newParent, newName, successCallback, errorCallback)

Parameters

newParent

A FileSystemDirectoryEntry object specifying the destination directory for the copy operation.

newName Optional

If this parameter is provided, the copy is given this string as its new file or directory name.

successCallback Optional

A function which is called when the copy operation is successfully completed. Receives a single input parameter: a FileSystemEntry based object providing the copied item's new details.

errorCallback Optional

An optional callback which is executed if an error occurs while copying the items. There's a single parameter: a DOMException describing what went wrong.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

DOMException.INVALID_MODIFICATION_ERR

The requested operation involves an impossible change, such as moving a directory inside itself or one of its own child directories, or copying an item within the same directory without renaming it.

DOMException.QUOTA_EXCEEDED_ERR

The operation exceeded the user's storage quota, or there isn't enough storage space left to complete the operation.

Examples

This example shows how a temporary log file might be moved into a more permanent "log" directory.

js
workingDirectory.getFile(
  "tmp/log.txt",
  {},
  (fileEntry) => {
    workingDirectory.getDirectory(
      "log",
      {},
      (dirEntry) => {
        fileEntry.copyTo(dirEntry);
      },
      handleError,
    );
  },
  handleError,
);

Browser compatibility

See also