Powershell: Copy files from .txt file and keep subfolder structure the same-CodePudding

Let me first say I am very bad at everything that involves coding language. So I need some help.

The goal:

I have a source with million of files but they need to be copied in a sequential order from A to B.

The source looks like this.

\\shareA\Files

\\shareA\Files\file1.jpg

\\shareA\Files\file2.jpg

\\shareA\Files\1\file3.jpg

\\shareA\Files\1\file4.jpg

\\shareA\Files\1\412\file5.jpg

\\shareA\Files\1\412\file6.jpg

The destination should look like this. So folder structure must remain the same.

\\ShareB\Files

\\ShareB\Files\file1.jpg

\\ShareB\Files\file2.jpg

\\ShareB\Files\1\file3.jpg

\\ShareB\Files\1\file4.jpg

\\ShareB\Files\1\412\file5.jpg

\\ShareB\Files\1\412\file6.jpg

The .txt file looks like this:

file1.jpg

file2.jpg

1\file3.jpg

1\file4.jpg

1\412\file5.jpg

1\412\file6.jpg

Relative Paths are included in the .txt file.

This my PowerShell script:

# Enter the source folder
$Source = "c:\FileA\Files"

# Enter the archiving destination folder
$destination = "C:\FileB\Files"

# Enter the tape export txt file
$txtPath = "C:\Tools\Files.txt"

# Read the file paths from the text file
$filePaths = Get-Content $txtPath

# Copy the files from the text file to the destination folder
foreach ($file in $filePaths) {
   Copy-Item "$Source\$file" -Destination "$destination" -Recurse -Verbose -PassThru
}

    Directory: C:\FileB\Files


> Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                                                                                                                                                          
> 
> VERBOSE: Performing the operation "Copy File" on target "Item: C:\FileA\Files\file1.jpg Destination: C:\FileB\Files\file1.jpg".
> -a----        2022-12-09   6:16 PM              0 file1.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                     
> VERBOSE: Performing the operation "Copy File" on target "Item: C:\FileA\Files\file2.jpg Destination: C:\FileB\Files\file2.jpg".
> -a----        2022-12-09   6:16 PM              0 file2.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                     
> VERBOSE: Performing the operation "Copy File" on target "Item: C:\FileA\Files\1\file3.jpg Destination: C:\FileB\Files\file3.jpg".
> -a----        2022-12-09   6:16 PM              0 file3.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                     
> VERBOSE: Performing the operation "Copy File" on target "Item: C:\FileA\Files\1\file4.jpg Destination: C:\FileB\Files\file4.jpg".
> -a----        2022-12-09   6:16 PM              0 file4.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                     
> VERBOSE: Performing the operation "Copy File" on target "Item: C:\FileA\Files\1\412\file5.jpg Destination: C:\FileB\Files\file5.jpg".
> -a----        2022-12-09   6:16 PM              0 file5.jpg                                                                                                                                                                                                     
> VERBOSE: Performing the operation "Copy File" on target "Item: C:\FileA\Files\1\412\file6.jpg Destination: C:\FileB\Files\file6.jpg".
> ```
> 

As you can see, the files are all copied in the root folder "\\C:\FileB\Files" and not in the respective subfolders in the destination.

Thanks in advance for the help.

CodePudding user response：

Make sure to create the parent directory for each destination file, if not already exists. Also specify the full file path for both the -Path and the -Destination argument of Copy-Item. The Copy-Item command knows nothing about the directory structure when copying single files, so you need to be explicit.

foreach ($file in $filePaths) {
   # using Join-Path is more robust than "$Source\$file" as it appends "\" only if necessary
   $sourceFilePath = Join-Path $Source $file

   # create the full destination file path
   $destinationFilePath = Join-Path $Destination $file
   
   # get the parent directory of the destination file path...
   $destinationDirPath = Split-Path $destinationFilePath
   # ...and create it if it doesn't exist (-Force)
   $null = New-Item $destinationDirPath -ItemType Directory -Force
   
   # Copy file with full source and destination path
   Copy-Item $sourceFilePath -Destination $destinationFilePath -Verbose -PassThru
}