During the course of time, I often required to write solutions which involve reading CSV (Comma Separated Values) Files. After repeating the same thing for a few times, I decided to write a component that will parse the CSV file and return a DataTable.
To use the the component is really simple. First you need to declare the object,
CsvDataSource.CsvDataSource src = new CsvDataSource.CsvDataSource();
and then read the CSV file. There are three possible way to read the CSV:
//Using comma as character separator, first line is NOT treated as column names
DataTable dt1 = src.ReadFile("input.csv");
//Using comma as separator character, first line is treated as column names
DataTable dt2 = src.ReadFile("input.csv", true);
//Using pipe (|) as separator character, first line is treated as column names
DataTable dt3 = src.ReadFile("input.csv", true, '|');
The complete source code as follows: Download the class source code.
Simple demo using Command Line Application:
/* Demo of CsvDataSource using Command Line Application
* (c) 2007 Hardono Arifanto
* http://sodeve.net
*/
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using CsvDataSource;
using System.Data;
namespace CsvDataSourceDemo
{
class Program
{
private static void printHelp()
{
Console.WriteLine(@"Demo for CsvDataSource.
Usage: CsvDataSourceDemo [inputfile.csv]");
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
DataTable dt;
if (args.Length > 0)
{
CsvDataSource.CsvDataSource src = new CsvDataSource.CsvDataSource();
dt = src.ReadFile(args[0],true,',');
//Display the DataTable content
foreach (DataColumn dc in dt.Columns)
{
Console.Write(dc.ColumnName + "t");
}
Console.WriteLine();
foreach (DataRow dr in dt.Rows)
{
for(int i=0; i < dt.Columns.Count; i++)
{
Console.Write(dr[i] + "t");
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
}
else
printHelp();
}
}
}
About Hardono
Hi, I'm Hardono. I am working as a Software Developer. I am working mostly in Windows, dealing with .NET, conversing in C#. But I know a bit of Linux, mainly because I need to keep this blog operational. I've been working in Logistics/Transport industry for more than 9 years.
Incoming Search
net read csv file
Excellent! Worked straight away. This is just what I needed. Top work!
Cheers mate 🙂
Did great job for me.
Good one…
But need to make some changes with escape characters.
Hi Sini,
Could you describe more ? 🙂
Anyway, I have removed the complete source code and replace it with a download-able file.
Apparently the syntax highlighter messed up the original source code 🙁
Thanks Hardono !