Write csv file with color code

Question

I am writing csv file from Datatable. Check my code below

      public static void SaveDataTableToCsvFile(string AbsolutePathAndFileName, DataTable TheDataTa         


        

Answer 1

CSV is a pure data format without any formatting. It's a plain text file after all. So no, there is no way of adding colour.

Answer 2

Joey is absolutely right.

But if your situation allows you to output an XLSX instead of a CSV, then EPPlus might be the solution for you.

e.g.

using (ExcelPackage ep = new ExcelPackage(AbsolutePathAndFileName))
{
    ExcelWorksheet worksheet = ep.Workbook.Worksheets.Add("Worksheet1");
    worksheet.Cells["A1"].LoadFromDataTable(TheDataTable, true); 
    worksheet.Cells["F4"].BackgroundColor.SetColor(Color.Red);
    ep.Save();
}

Answer 3

A CSV (comma-separated values) file is a text file. There is no way to add color too the file without changing it to another file format (such as RTF).

Answer 4

You might want to output an .xls (or equivalent) instead of a .csv using some external utility Or convert the csv to .xls in order to have color coding even possible