2 ways to copy directory recursively in Kotlin

2 ways to copy directory recursively in Kotlin.

This article explains how to do it and gives code examples

Table of Contents

1. Use Files.copy() method
2. Use File.copyRecursively() method
Related articles…

1. Use Files.copy() method

First way is using Files.copy() method.

Sample code in Kotlin :

/// Copy source directory
val srcDir: File = ...
/// Copy destination directory
val destDir: File = ...

/// Copy src to dest
Files.copy(destDir.toPath(), FileOutputStream(targetDir))

3 ways to call Files.copy() :

static fun copy(
source: Path!,
target: Path!,
vararg options: CopyOption!
): Path!

static fun copy(
in: InputStream!,
target: Path!,
vararg options: CopyOption!
): Long

static fun copy(
source: Path!,
out: OutputStream!
): Long

Quotes : https://developer.android.com/reference/kotlin/java/nio/file/Files#copy

Looks so simple and good way.

But you can use this method only API level 26 or more.

2. Use File.copyRecursively() method

This way is more useful to copy directory recursively.

Summary of this method :

fun File.copyRecursively(
target: File,
overwrite: Boolean = false,
onError: (File, IOException) -> OnErrorAction = { _, exception -> throw exception }
): Boolean

Copies this file with all its children to the specified destination target path. If some directories on the way to the destination are missing, then they will be created.If this file path points to a single file, then it will be copied to a file with the path target. If this file path points to a directory, then its children will be copied to a directory with the path target.If the target already exists, it will be deleted before copying when the overwrite parameter permits so.

Quotes : https://kotlinlang.org/api/latest/jvm/stdlib/kotlin.io/java.io.-file/copy-recursively.html

In Kotlin, this method can be used regardless of the API level.

Sample code in Kotlin :

/// Copy source directory 
val srcDir: File = ... 
/// Copy destination directory 
val destDir: File = ...

/// Copy directory recursively
val overwrite = true
srcDir.copyRecursively(destDir, overwrite){
        file, e ->
    System.out.println("Failed to copy : ${e.message}")
    
    /// SKIP or TERMINATE
    OnErrorAction.SKIP
}

Error handling is supported.

These articles may may also help you 🙂

👇 How to zip directories & files on Android using Kotlin

How to zip directories & files on Android using Kotlin

Code Ronna