added option to symlink (ln -s)

README.md

@@ -97,8 +97,10 @@ Occasionally, you may have things that comprise more than a single file (e.g. pi
 Set `group_prefix` to the length of the group (e.g. `2`).
 But now _all_ files should be part of groups.
 
-Set `move=True` if you want to move the files instead of copying.
-
+Set  
+- `move=True` or `move='move'` if you want to move the files instead of copying.
+- `move=False` or `move='copy'` if you want to copy the files. (default behavior)
+- `move='symlink'` if you want to symlink(i.e create shortcuts `ln -s`) instead of copying
 ### CLI
 
 ```
@@ -114,6 +116,7 @@ Options:
     --oversample    enable oversampling of imbalanced datasets, works only with --fixed.
     --group_prefix  split files into equally-sized groups based on their prefix
     --move          move the files instead of copying
+    --symlink       symlink(create shortcut) the files instead of copying
 Example:
     splitfolders --ratio .8 .1 .1 -- folder_with_images
 ```

splitfolders/cli.py

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 def run():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
-        description="Split folders with files (e.g. images) into training, validation and test(dataset) folders."
+        description="Split folders with files (e.g. images) by copying them into training, validation and test(dataset) folders."
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--output",
@@ -41,18 +41,27 @@ def run():
         default=None,
         help="split files into equally-sized groups based on their prefix",
     )
-    parser.add_argument(
+    group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
+    group.add_argument(
         "--move",
         action="store_true",
         help="move the files instead of copying",
     )
+    group.add_argument(
+        "--symlink",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="symlink(create shortcut) the files instead of copying",
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "input",
         help="directory with the input data. The directory needs to have the labels as sub-directories. In those sub-directories are then the actual files that gets split.",
     )
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
+    if args.symlink:
+        args.move = 'symlink'
+
     if args.ratio:
         ratio(
             args.input, args.output, args.seed, args.ratio, args.group_prefix, args.move

splitfolders/split.py

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 import random
 import shutil
-from os import path
+from os import path, symlink
 
 from .utils import list_dirs, list_files
 
@@ -150,8 +150,22 @@ def fixed(
     if use_tqdm:
         iteration = tqdm(iteration, desc="Oversampling", unit=" classes")
 
-    copy_fun = shutil.move if move else shutil.copy2
+    if move == 'move' or move is True:
+        copy_fun = shutil.move
+    elif move == 'copy' or move is False:
+        copy_fun = shutil.copy2
+    else:
+        copy_fun = symlink
 
+    def copyer(f_orig, f_dest):
+        if isinstance(move, bool) or move == 'move' or move == 'copy':
+            copy_fun(str(f_orig), str(f_dest))
+        else:
+            try:
+                copy_fun(f_orig.resolve(), f_dest.resolve())
+            except FileExistsError:
+                pass
+
     for num_items, class_dir in iteration:
         class_name = path.split(class_dir)[1]
         full_path = path.join(output, "train", class_name)
@@ -169,7 +183,7 @@ def fixed(
             for f_orig in f_chosen:
                 new_name = f_orig.stem + "_" + str(i) + f_orig.suffix
                 f_dest = f_orig.with_name(new_name)
-                copy_fun(str(f_orig), str(f_dest))
+                copyer(f_orig, f_dest)
 
 
 def group_by_prefix(files, len_pairs):
@@ -296,8 +310,23 @@ def copy_files(files_type, class_dir, output, prog_bar, move):
     Copies the files from the input folder to the output folder
     """
 
-    copy_fun = shutil.move if move else shutil.copy2
+    if move == 'move' or move is True:
+        copy_fun = shutil.move
+    elif move == 'copy' or move is False:
+        copy_fun = shutil.copy2
+    else:
+        copy_fun = symlink
 
+    def copyer(base_file, full_path):
+        if isinstance(move, bool) or move == 'move' or move == 'copy':
+            copy_fun(str(base_file), str(full_path))
+        else:
+            try:
+                copy_fun(base_file.resolve(), path.join(full_path,
+                                                        path.split(Path(base_file))[1]))
+            except FileExistsError:
+                pass
+
     # get the last part within the file
     class_name = path.split(class_dir)[1]
     for (files, folder_type) in files_type:
@@ -309,6 +338,6 @@ def copy_files(files_type, class_dir, output, prog_bar, move):
                 prog_bar.update()
             if type(f) == tuple:
                 for x in f:
-                    copy_fun(str(x), str(full_path))
+                    copyer(x, full_path)
             else:
-                copy_fun(str(f), str(full_path))
+                copyer(f, full_path)