is there any way to read a csv file into a matrix, so every square in the file will be a cell in the matrix?
There are many open source CSV readers, and it's also easy to code your own.
For a start take look at codeplex.com: http://kbcsv.codeplex.com/
Or Codeproject tutorials: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/database/CsvReader.aspx
For sake of completion, here is my own utility class to read a line from a CSV file:
/// <summary>
/// Defines CSV reader states
/// </summary>
enum State
{
Initial,
Quote,
Data,
NestedQuote
}
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="CsvReader"/> class.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="inputStream">The input stream.</param>
public CsvReader(Stream inputStream)
{
if (inputStream == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("inputStream");
reader = new StreamReader(inputStream);
}
/// <summary>
/// Reads a single line of CSV data.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Array of CSV fields</returns>
public string[] Read()
{
var line = reader.ReadLine();
var retval = new List<string>();
if (line == null)
return null;
var state = State.Initial;
var text = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var ch in line)
switch (state)
{
case State.Initial:
if (ch == '"')
state = State.Quote;
else if (ch == ',')
retval.Add(string.Empty);
else
{
text.Append(ch);
state = State.Data;
}
break;
case State.Data:
if (ch == ',')
{
retval.Add(text.ToString());
text.Length = 0;
state = State.Initial;
}
else
text.Append(ch);
break;
case State.Quote:
if (ch == '"')
state = State.NestedQuote;
else
text.Append(ch);
break;
case State.NestedQuote:
if (ch == '"')
{
text.Append('"');
state = State.Quote;
break;
}
state = State.Data;
goto case State.Data;
}
retval.Add(text.ToString());
return retval.ToArray();
}
/// <summary>
/// Performs application-defined tasks associated with freeing, releasing, or resetting unmanaged resources.
/// </summary>
public void Dispose()
{
reader.Dispose();
}
To make the matrix (untested):
var data = new List<string[]>();
string[] line;
using(reader = new CsvReader(stream))
while((line = reader.Read()) != null)
data.Add(line);
result = data.Select(row => row.Select(cell => int.Parse(cell)).ToArray()).ToArray();
CSV parsing with regular expressions: http://www.hotblue.com/article0000.aspx?a=0006
To expand the concept with custom separators, see this post: How do I write a regex to match a string that doesn't contain a word?
There are many ways. Starting with a byte by byte reader. It depends on your csv file format (with/without header, line endings, " or '). I've written my own class.
A good reader to start with:
http://www.stellman-greene.com/CSVReader/
There is a text reader in the VisualBasic namespace that can be used in C# and handles even horrible CSV files very well:
TextFieldParser
Just add a reference to Microsoft.VisualBasic
in your project.