Dealing with commas in a CSV file

Question

I am looking for suggestions on how to handle a csv file that is being created, then uploaded by our customers, and that may have a comma in a value, like a company name.

Answer 1

There is a library available through nuget for dealing with pretty much any well formed CSV (.net) - CsvHelper

Example to map to a class:

var csv = new CsvReader( textReader );
var records = csv.GetRecords();

Example to read individual fields:

var csv = new CsvReader( textReader );
while( csv.Read() )
{
    var intField = csv.GetField( 0 );
    var stringField = csv.GetField( 1 );
    var boolField = csv.GetField( "HeaderName" );
}

Letting the client drive the file format:
, is the standard field delimiter, " is the standard value used to escape fields that contain a delimiter, quote, or line ending.

To use (for example) # for fields and ' for escaping:

var csv = new CsvReader( textReader );
csv.Configuration.Delimiter = "#";
csv.Configuration.Quote = ''';
// read the file however meets your needs

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