With GNU cp
cp --parents -- A/B/C/a.txt OTHER_DIR
Question
Is there an easy way to copy an specific file nested in an already nested directory creating an structure of directories nested in the same way its file path (in linux)?
for instance;
copy_command A/B/C/a.txt OTHER_DIR
would create
OTHER_DIR/A/B/C/a.txt
creating the directory structure A/B/C into OTHER_DIR and copying the file a.txt on his corresponding dir.
Solution
With GNU cp
cp --parents -- A/B/C/a.txt OTHER_DIR
OTHER TIPS
The ${var_name%pattern}
syntax removes pattern
from the variable's value. With that in mind:
file="A/B/C/a.txt"
mkdir -p "OTHER_DIR/${file%/*}"
cp "$file" "OTHER_DIR/${file%/*}/"
Which is equivalent to:
mkdir -p OTHER_DIR/A/B/C
cp A/B/C/a.txt OTHER_DIR/A/B/C/