Subprocess Cp Returns Error - Bufsize Must Be Integer [Duplicate]

Name: Subprocess Cp Returns Error - Bufsize Must Be Integer [Duplicate]
Uploaded: 2026-10-01T11:09:39+00:00
Duration: 14 min 11 s
Description: I'm Trying to Copy from One Directory to Another, and Rename Them at the Same Time by Calling 'Cp' Like So: Directories = ['/Users/Me/Folder1/File1. Txt'...

Question

I'm trying to copy from one directory to another, and rename them at the same time by calling 'cp' like so:

directories = ['/Users/Me/Folder1/File1.txt', '/Users/Me/Folder/File2.txt']
output = ['/Users/Me/Folder2/Hello.txt', 'Users/Me/Folder2/World.txt'] 
for in, out, in zip(directories, output):
    subprocess.call('cp', in, out)

But it returns:

 File "./test.py", line 33, in <module>
    subprocess.call('cp', in, out)
  File "/usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.10_2/Frameworks/", line 522, in call
    return Popen(*popenargs, **kwargs).wait()
  File "/usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.10_2/Frameworks/", line 659, in __init__
    raise TypeError("bufsize must be an integer")
TypeError: bufsize must be an integer

What am I doing wrong?

Accepted Answer

You've got two problems:

1 - subprocess.call() expects a list of arguments, not multiple arguments:

#wrong
subprocess.call('cp', in, out)
#right
subprocess.call(['cp', in, out])

2 - in is a python reserved keyword, change it to something like inp:

#wrong
subprocess.call(['cp', in, out])
#right
subprocess.call(['cp', inp, out])

Subprocess Cp Returns Error - Bufsize Must Be Integer [Duplicate]

Must Read

1 Answer

Sarah Jenkins