Writing data into CSV file in C#

Question

I am trying to write into a csv file row by row using C# language. Here is my function

string first = reader[0].ToString();
string second=image.         


        

Answer 1

Instead of calling every time AppendAllText() you could think about opening the file once and then write the whole content once:

var file = @"C:\myOutput.csv";

using (var stream = File.CreateText(file))
{
    for (int i = 0; i < reader.Count(); i++)
    {
        string first = reader[i].ToString();
        string second = image.ToString();
        string csvRow = string.Format("{0},{1}", first, second);

        stream.WriteLine(csvRow);
    }
}

Answer 2

enter code here

string string_value= string.Empty;

        for (int i = 0; i < ur_grid.Rows.Count; i++)
        {
            for (int j = 0; j < ur_grid.Rows[i].Cells.Count; j++)
            {
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(ur_grid.Rows[i].Cells[j].Text.ToString()))
                {
                    if (j > 0)
                        string_value= string_value+ "," + ur_grid.Rows[i].Cells[j].Text.ToString();
                    else
                    {
                        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(string_value))
                            string_value= ur_grid.Rows[i].Cells[j].Text.ToString();
                        else
                            string_value= string_value+ Environment.NewLine + ur_grid.Rows[i].Cells[j].Text.ToString();
                    }
                }
            }
        }


        string where_to_save_file = @"d:\location\Files\sample.csv";
        File.WriteAllText(where_to_save_file, string_value);

        string server_path = "/site/Files/sample.csv";
        Response.ContentType = ContentType;
        Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + Path.GetFileName(server_path));
        Response.WriteFile(server_path);
        Response.End();

Answer 3

Writing csv files by hand can be difficult because your data might contain commas and newlines. I suggest you use an existing library instead.

This question mentions a few options.

Are there any CSV readers/writer libraries in C#?

Answer 4

Instead of reinventing the wheel a library could be used. CsvHelper is great for creating and reading csv files. It's read and write operations are stream based and therefore also support operations with a big amount of data.

---

You can write your csv like the following.

using(var textWriter = new StreamWriter(@"C:\mypath\myfile.csv"))
{
    var writer = new CsvWriter(textWriter, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
    writer.Configuration.Delimiter = ",";

    foreach (var item in list)
    {
        writer.WriteField( "a" );
        writer.WriteField( 2 );
        writer.WriteField( true );
        writer.NextRecord();
    }
}

---

As the library is using reflection it will take any type and parse it directly.

public class CsvRow
{
    public string Column1 { get; set; }
    public bool Column2 { get; set; }

    public CsvRow(string column1, bool column2)
    {
        Column1 = column1;
        Column2 = column2;
    }
}

IEnumerable<CsvRow> rows = new [] {
    new CsvRow("value1", true),
    new CsvRow("value2", false)
};
using(var textWriter = new StreamWriter(@"C:\mypath\myfile.csv")
{
    var writer = new CsvWriter(textWriter, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
    writer.Configuration.Delimiter = ",";
    writer.WriteRecords(rows);
}

value1,true

value2,false

---

If you want to read more about the librarys configurations and possibilities you can do so here.

Answer 5

You might just have to add a line feed "\n\r".

Answer 6

public static class Extensions
{
    public static void WriteCSVLine(this StreamWriter writer, IEnumerable<string> fields)
    {
        const string q = @"""";
        writer.WriteLine(string.Join(",",
            fields.Select(
                v => (v.Contains(',') || v.Contains('"') || v.Contains('\n') || v.Contains('\r')) ? $"{q}{v.Replace(q, q + q)}{q}" : v
                )));
    }

    public static void WriteFields(this StreamWriter writer, params string[] fields) => WriteFields(writer, (IEnumerable<string>)fields);
}

This should allow you to write a csv file quite simply. Usage:

StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter("myfile.csv");
writer.WriteCSVLine(new[]{"A", "B"});