Reading CSV file and storing values into an array

Question

I am trying to read a *.csv-file.

The *.csv-file consist of two columns separated by semicolon (\";\").

I am able

Answer 1

I have a library that is doing exactly you need.

Some time ago I had wrote simple and fast enough library for work with CSV files. You can find it by the following link: https://github.com/ukushu/DataExporter

It works with CSV like with 2 dimensions array. Exactly like you need.

As example, in case of you need all of values of 3rd row only you need is to write:

Csv csv = new Csv();

csv.FileOpen("c:\\file1.csv");

var allValuesOf3rdRow = csv.Rows[2];

or to read 2nd cell of

var value = csv.Rows[2][1];

Answer 2

You can use Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.TextFieldParser dll in C# for better performance

get below code example from above article

static void Main()
{
    string csv_file_path=@"C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\test.csv";

    DataTable csvData = GetDataTabletFromCSVFile(csv_file_path);

    Console.WriteLine("Rows count:" + csvData.Rows.Count);

    Console.ReadLine();
}


private static DataTable GetDataTabletFromCSVFile(string csv_file_path)
{
    DataTable csvData = new DataTable();

    try
    {

    using(TextFieldParser csvReader = new TextFieldParser(csv_file_path))
        {
            csvReader.SetDelimiters(new string[] { "," });
            csvReader.HasFieldsEnclosedInQuotes = true;
            string[] colFields = csvReader.ReadFields();
            foreach (string column in colFields)
            {
                DataColumn datecolumn = new DataColumn(column);
                datecolumn.AllowDBNull = true;
                csvData.Columns.Add(datecolumn);
            }

            while (!csvReader.EndOfData)
            {
                string[] fieldData = csvReader.ReadFields();
                //Making empty value as null
                for (int i = 0; i < fieldData.Length; i++)
                {
                    if (fieldData[i] == "")
                    {
                        fieldData[i] = null;
                    }
                }
                csvData.Rows.Add(fieldData);
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
    }
    return csvData;
}

Answer 3

Still wrong. You need to compensate for "" in quotes. Here is my solution Microsoft style csv.

               /// <summary>
    /// Microsoft style csv file.  " is the quote character, "" is an escaped quote.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="fileName"></param>
    /// <param name="sepChar"></param>
    /// <param name="quoteChar"></param>
    /// <param name="escChar"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static List<string[]> ReadCSVFileMSStyle(string fileName, char sepChar = ',', char quoteChar = '"')
    {
        List<string[]> ret = new List<string[]>();

        string[] csvRows = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(fileName);

        foreach (string csvRow in csvRows)
        {
            bool inQuotes = false;
            List<string> fields = new List<string>();
            string field = "";
            for (int i = 0; i < csvRow.Length; i++)
            {
                if (inQuotes)
                {
                    // Is it a "" inside quoted area? (escaped litteral quote)
                    if(i < csvRow.Length - 1 && csvRow[i] == quoteChar && csvRow[i+1] == quoteChar)
                    {
                        i++;
                        field += quoteChar;
                    }
                    else if(csvRow[i] == quoteChar)
                    {
                        inQuotes = false;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        field += csvRow[i];
                    }
                }
                else // Not in quoted region
                {
                     if (csvRow[i] == quoteChar)
                    {
                        inQuotes = true;
                    }
                    if (csvRow[i] == sepChar)
                    {
                        fields.Add(field);
                        field = "";
                    }
                    else 
                    {
                        field += csvRow[i];
                    }
                }
            }
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(field))
            {
                fields.Add(field);
                field = "";
            }
            ret.Add(fields.ToArray());
        }

        return ret;
    }
}

Answer 4

If you need to skip (head-)lines and/or columns, you can use this to create a 2-dimensional array:

    var lines = File.ReadAllLines(path).Select(a => a.Split(';'));
    var csv = (from line in lines               
               select (from col in line
               select col).Skip(1).ToArray() // skip the first column
              ).Skip(2).ToArray(); // skip 2 headlines

This is quite useful if you need to shape the data before you process it further (assuming the first 2 lines consist of the headline, and the first column is a row title - which you don't need to have in the array because you just want to regard the data).

N.B. You can easily get the headlines and the 1st column by using the following code:

    var coltitle = (from line in lines 
                    select line.Skip(1).ToArray() // skip 1st column
                   ).Skip(1).Take(1).FirstOrDefault().ToArray(); // take the 2nd row
    var rowtitle = (from line in lines select line[0] // take 1st column
                   ).Skip(2).ToArray(); // skip 2 headlines

This code example assumes the following structure of your *.csv file:

Note: If you need to skip empty rows - which can by handy sometimes, you can do so by inserting

    where line.Any(a=>!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(a))

between the from and the select statement in the LINQ code examples above.

Answer 5

var firstColumn = new List<string>();
var lastColumn = new List<string>();

// your code for reading CSV file

foreach(var line in file)
{
    var array = line.Split(';');
    firstColumn.Add(array[0]);
    lastColumn.Add(array[1]);
}

var firstArray = firstColumn.ToArray();
var lastArray = lastColumn.ToArray();

Answer 6

Here's a special case where one of data field has semicolon (";") as part of it's data in that case most of answers above will fail.

Solution it that case will be

string[] csvRows = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(FullyQaulifiedFileName);
string[] fields = null;
List<string> lstFields;
string field;
bool quoteStarted = false;
foreach (string csvRow in csvRows)
{
    lstFields = new List<string>();
    field = "";
    for (int i = 0; i < csvRow.Length; i++)
    {
        string tmp = csvRow.ElementAt(i).ToString();
        if(String.Compare(tmp,"\"")==0)
        {
            quoteStarted = !quoteStarted;
        }
        if (String.Compare(tmp, ";") == 0 && !quoteStarted)
        {
            lstFields.Add(field);
            field = "";
        }
        else if (String.Compare(tmp, "\"") != 0)
        {
            field += tmp;
        }
    }
    if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(field))
    {
        lstFields.Add(field);
        field = "";
    }
// This will hold values for each column for current row under processing
    fields = lstFields.ToArray(); 
}