Unix shell file copy flattening folder structure

Question

On the UNIX bash shell (specifically Mac OS X Leopard) what would be the simplest way to copy every file having a specific extension from a folder hierarchy (including subdirect

Answer 1

If you really want to run just one command, why not cons one up and run it? Like so:

$ find /foo  -name '*.txt' | xargs echo | sed -e 's/^/cp /' -e 's|$| /dest|' | bash -sx

But that won't matter too much performance-wise unless you do this a lot or have a ton of files. Be careful of name collusions, however. I noticed in testing that GNU cp at least warns of collisions:

cp: will not overwrite just-created `/dest/tubguide.tex' with `./texmf/tex/plain/tugboat/tubguide.tex'

I think the cleanest is:

$ find /foo  -name '*.txt' | xargs -i cp {} /dest

Less syntax to remember than the -exec option.