Develop Reference

Dumping SQL table to .csv C#

I am trying to implement a script in my application that will dump the entire contents (for now, but I am trying to write the code so that I can easily customize it to only grab certain columns) of a sql db (running ms sql server express 2014) to a .csv file.
Here is the code I have written currently:
public void doCsvWrite(string timeStamp){
try {
//specify file name of log file (csv).
string newFileName = "C:/TestDirectory/DataExport-" + timeStamp + ".csv";
//check to see if file exists, if not create an empty file with the specified file name.
if (!File.Exists(newFileName)) {
FileStream fs = new FileStream(newFileName, FileMode.CreateNew);
fs.Close();
//define header of new file, and write header to file.
string csvHeader = "ITEM1,ITEM2,ITEM3,ITEM4,ITEM5";
using (FileStream fsWHT = new FileStream(newFileName, FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write))
using(StreamWriter swT = new StreamWriter(fsWHT))
{
swT.WriteLine(csvHeader.ToString());
}
}
//set up connection to database.
SqlConnection myDEConnection;
String cDEString = "Data Source=localhost\\NAMEDPIPE;Initial Catalog=db;User Id=user;Password=pwd";
String strDEStatement = "SELECT * FROM table";
try
{
myDEConnection = new SqlConnection(cDEString);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//error handling here.
return;
}
try
{
myDEConnection.Open();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//error handling here.
return;
}
SqlDataReader reader = null;
SqlCommand myDECommand = new SqlCommand(strDEStatement, myDEConnection);
try
{
reader = myDECommand.ExecuteReader();
while (reader.Read())
{
for (int i = 0; i < reader.FieldCount; i++)
{
if(reader["Column1"].ToString() == "") {
//does nothing if the current line is "bugged" (containing no values at all, typically happens after reboot of 3rd party equipment).
}
else {
//grab relevant tag data and set the csv line for the current row.
string csvDetails = reader["Column1"] + "," + reader["Column2"] + "," + String.Format("{0:0.0}", reader["Column3"]) + "," + String.Format("{0:0.000}", reader["Column4"]) + "," + reader["Column5"];
using (FileStream fsWDT = new FileStream(newFileName, FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write))
using(StreamWriter swDT = new StreamWriter(fsWDT))
{
//write csv line to file.
swDT.WriteLine(csvDetails.ToString());
}
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//error handling here.
myDEConnection.Close();
return;
}
myDEConnection.Close();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//error handling here.
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
}
Now, this was working fine when I was using it with a 3rd party SQLite-based database, but the output I'm getting after modifing this to my MSSQL db looks something like this (ITEM1 is the primary key, a standard auto-incrementing ID-field):
ITEM1,ITEM2,ITEM3,ITEM4,ITEM5
1,row1_item2,row1_item3,row1_item4,row1_item5
1,row1_item2,row1_item3,row1_item4,row1_item5
1,row1_item2,row1_item3,row1_item4,row1_item5
1,row1_item2,row1_item3,row1_item4,row1_item5
1,row1_item2,row1_item3,row1_item4,row1_item5
1,row1_item2,row1_item3,row1_item4,row1_item5
2,row2_item2,row2_item3,row2_item4,row2_item5
2,row2_item2,row2_item3,row2_item4,row2_item5
2,row2_item2,row2_item3,row2_item4,row2_item5
2,row2_item2,row2_item3,row2_item4,row2_item5
2,row2_item2,row2_item3,row2_item4,row2_item5
3,row3_item2,row3_item3,row3_item4,row3_item5
3,row3_item2,row3_item3,row3_item4,row3_item5
3,row3_item2,row3_item3,row3_item4,row3_item5
3,row3_item2,row3_item3,row3_item4,row3_item5
....
So it seems that it writes several entries of the same row, where I would just like one single line each row. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
edit: Thanks everyone for your answers!

The for loop isn't needed in the section below. Because it loops from 0 to FieldCount I assume the loop was originally meant to append the text from each column together but inside the loop there's a single line that concatenates the text and assigns it to csvDetails.
try
{
reader = myDECommand.ExecuteReader();
while (reader.Read())
{
for (int i = 0; i < reader.FieldCount; i++)
{
if(reader["Column1"].ToString() == "") {
//does nothing if the current line is "bugged" (containing no values at all, typically happens after reboot of 3rd party equipment).
}
else {
//grab relevant tag data and set the csv line for the current row.
string csvDetails = reader["Column1"] + "," + reader["Column2"] + "," + String.Format("{0:0.0}", reader["Column3"]) + "," + String.Format("{0:0.000}", reader["Column4"]) + "," + reader["Column5"];
using (FileStream fsWDT = new FileStream(newFileName, FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write))
using(StreamWriter swDT = new StreamWriter(fsWDT))
{
//write csv line to file.
swDT.WriteLine(csvDetails.ToString());
}
}
}
}
}

Usually, we use specialy designed export/import utilites for dumping data.
However, if you have to implement you own routine I suggest decomposing.
private static IEnumerable<IDataRecord> SourceData(String sql) {
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(ConnectionStringHere)) {
con.Open();
using (SqlCommand q = new SqlCommand(sql, con)) {
using (var reader = q.ExecuteReader()) {
while (reader.Read()) {
//TODO: you may want to add additional conditions here
yield return reader;
}
}
}
}
}
private static IEnumerable<String> ToCsv(IEnumerable<IDataRecord> data) {
foreach (IDataRecord record in data) {
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
for (int i = 0; i < record .FieldCount; ++i) {
String chunk = Convert.ToString(record .GetValue(0));
if (i > 0)
sb.Append(',');
if (chunk.Contains(',') || chunk.Contains(';'))
chunk = "\"" + chunk.Replace("\"", "\"\"") + "\"";
sb.Append(chunk);
}
yield return sb.ToString();
}
}
Having SourceData and ToCsv you can easily implement
private static void WriteMyCsv(String fileName) {
var source = SourceData("SELECT * FROM table");
File.WriteAllLines(fileName, ToCsv(source));
}

You have a for loop which is looping over the fieldcount.
for (int i = 0; i < reader.FieldCount; i++)
I think it will work if you remove the loop as you don't need to iterate through the columns.

it happens because output placed inside for-loop
for (int i = 0; i < reader.FieldCount; i++)
and every record repeats FieldCount-times

Complete example. Verified working .NET 4.8, May 22. Code simplified for demo.
Why the DataTable ? Under circumstances it is useful. If you converting hundreds of files at once and multi threading - it works as large buffer + you can do pretty complex data mangling at the same time - should you need it.
UNFORTUNATELY - Microsoft trying to detect the column types and if your data not comply with the mechanism it ends with hard to correct errors. In that case use the second solution.
// Get the data from SQLite
SqliteConnection SQLiDataCon = new SqliteConnection(#"Data Source=c:\sqlite.db3");
SQLiDataCon.Open();
SqliteDataReader SQLiDtaReader = new SqliteCommand(#"SELECT * FROM stats;", SQLiDataCon).ExecuteReader();
// Load data to DataTable
DataTable csvTable = new DataTable();
csvTable.Load(SQLiDtaReader);
// Get "one" string with column names
string csvFields = #"""" + String.Join(#""",""",csvTable.Columns.Cast<DataColumn>().Select(dc => dc.ColumnName).ToArray()) + #"""";
// Prep "in memory the entire content of the CSV"
StringBuilder csvString = new StringBuilder();
// Write the header in
csvString.AppendLine(csvFields);
// Write the rows in
foreach (DataRow dr in csvTable.Rows)
{
csvString.AppendLine(#"""" + String.Join(#""",""", dr.ItemArray) + #"""");
}
// Save to file
StreamWriter csvFile = new StreamWriter(#"c:\stats.csv");
csvFile.Write(csvString);
Without DataTable.
// SQLITE
SqliteConnection SQLiDataCon = new SqliteConnection(#"Data Source=c:\sqlite.db3");
SQLiDataCon.Open();
StringBuilder csvString = new StringBuilder();
StreamWriter csvFile;
Object[] csvRow;
SqliteDataReader SQLiDtaReader = new SqliteCommand(#"SELECT * FROM sometable;", SQLiDataCon).ExecuteReader();
// CSV HEADER
csvString.AppendLine(#"""" + String.Join(#""",""", SQLiDtaReader.GetSchemaTable().AsEnumerable().Select(dr => dr.Field<string>("ColumnName")).ToArray<string>()) + #"""");
// CSV BODY
while (SQLiDtaReader.Read())
{
SQLiDtaReader.GetValues(csvRow = new Object[SQLiDtaReader.FieldCount]);
csvString.AppendLine(#"""" + String.Join(#""",""",csvRow ) + #"""");
}
// WRITE IT
csvFile = new StreamWriter(#"C:\somecsvfile.csv");
csvFile.Write(csvString);

Not able to write a Text on txt File using C#

I have tried to write a string on text file,but its not writing anything and there is no exceptions. My code is:
public void CreateLog(string sLogInfo)
{
string sDestionation = null;
string sFileName = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd") + "_log.txt";
sDestionation = #"D:\Log\";
//sDestionation = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location) + ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["DestinationPath"].ToString();
string sFile = sDestionation + sFileName;
if (!System.IO.Directory.Exists(sDestionation))
{
System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(sDestionation);
}
StreamWriter oWriter = null;
if (!System.IO.File.Exists(sFile))
{
oWriter = File.CreateText(sFile);
}
else
{
oWriter = File.AppendText(sFile);
}
oWriter.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToString() + ": " + sLogInfo.Trim());
}

StreamWriter is IDisposable object. You should dispose it after using. For this you can use using statement like this:
public void CreateLog(string sLogInfo)
{
string sDestionation = null;
string sFileName = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd") + "_log.txt";
sDestionation = #"D:\Log\";
var sFile = sDestionation + sFileName;
if (!Directory.Exists(sDestionation))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(sDestionation);
}
using (var oWriter = new StreamWriter(sFile, true))
oWriter.WriteLine(DateTime.Now + ": " + sLogInfo.Trim());
}

Use File.AppendAllText that will do all the steps (except creating folder) for you.
Otherwise you should properly dispose writer when you are done, preferably with using in the same function:
using(oWriter)
{
oWriter.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToString() + ": " + sLogInfo.Trim());
}

Your code looks fine, however, I think you should add at the end of it the following:
oWriter.Close()

You should flush (disposing is enough) your data into the file at the end of your code:
oWriter.Flush(); //Save (Clears all buffers for the current writer and causes any buffered data to be written to the underlying stream.)
oWriter.Dispose(); //Then free this resource
As Yuval mentioned looking at C#'s StreamWriter.cs class it does indeed calls the Flush method internally. See here: Reference

C# CSV file still open when appending

I'm trying to allow the user to add another entry to the CSV file my program is building. It is building it out of a database like this:
public void CreateCsvFile()
{
var filepath = #"F:\A2 Computing\C# Programming Project\ScheduleFile.csv";
var ListGather = new PaceCalculator();
var records =
from record in ListGather.NameGain()
.Zip(ListGather.PaceGain(),
(a, b) => new { Name = a, Pace = b })
group record.Pace by record.Name into grs
select String.Format("{0},{1}", grs.Key, grs.Average()); //reduces the list of integers down to a single double value by computing the average.
File.WriteAllLines(filepath, records);
}
I then am calling it into a datagridview like this:
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
CreateExtFile CsvCreate = new CreateExtFile();
CsvCreate.CreateCsvFile();
return;
}
private void LoadAthletes()
{
string delimiter = ",";
string tableName = "Schedule Table";
string fileName = #"F:\A2 Computing\C# Programming Project\ScheduleFile.csv";
DataSet dataset = new DataSet();
StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(fileName);
dataset.Tables.Add(tableName);
dataset.Tables[tableName].Columns.Add("Athlete Name");
dataset.Tables[tableName].Columns.Add("Pace Per Mile");
string allData = sr.ReadToEnd();
string[] rows = allData.Split("\r".ToCharArray());
foreach (string r in rows)
{
string[] items = r.Split(delimiter.ToCharArray());
dataset.Tables[tableName].Rows.Add(items);
}
this.dataGridView1.DataSource = dataset.Tables[0].DefaultView;
}
A button opens a window which contains fields to add a new entry to the csv file. This is how I am doing this:
private void AddToScheduleBtn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string FileName = #"F:\A2 Computing\C# Programming Project\ScheduleFile.csv";
string AthleteDetails = textBox1.Text + "," + textBox2.Text;
File.AppendAllText(FileName, AthleteDetails);
AddToSchedule.ActiveForm.Close();
}
Although this works once, When I try and add another entry to my csv file again it says it is open in another process and the program crashes. When the data first appears in my datagridview, there is an empty row at the bottom which there shouldn't be. What is the best way of allowing me to re-use the process so I can append to the file more than once?

I think your line,
StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(fileName);
has the file opened. You want to do the following:
string allData = sr.ReadToEnd();
sr.Close();
sr.Dispose();

I didn't build your code, but this error is usually raised when the file reader was not closed :)
You should add sr.close() to your LoadAthletes method or implement the using for an automatic closing:
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(fileName))
{
allData = sr.ReadToEnd();
}
Or use the following method :
allData = File.ReadAllText(fileName);
Hope this Help
For more information see this question do-i-need-to-explicitly-close-the-streamreader-in-c-sharp-when-using-it-to-load

Saving from List<T> to txt

I want my program to read from two text files into one List<T>.
The List<T> is sorting and cleaning duplicates.
I want the List<T> to save (after sorting and cleaning) to a txt file.
But when I looked in the result txt file, I found this message:
System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
Does anyone have an idea how I could fix this error?
Here is my code:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
namespace Uniqpass
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
String pfad = "C:\\Dokumente und Einstellungen\\Bektas\\Desktop\\test\\";
String pfad2 = "C:\\Dokumente und Einstellungen\\Bektas\\Desktop\\test\\";
String speichern = "C:\\Dokumente und Einstellungen\\Bektas\\Desktop\\test\\ausgabe.txt";
String datei = "text1.txt";
String datei2 = "text2.txt";
try
{
//Einlesen TxT 1
List<String> pass1 = new List<String>();
StreamReader sr1 = new StreamReader(pfad + datei);
while (sr1.Peek() > -1)
{
pass1.Add(sr1.ReadLine());
}
sr1.Close();
//Einlesen TxT 2
StreamReader sr2 = new StreamReader(pfad2 + datei2);
while (sr2.Peek() > -1)
{
pass1.Add(sr2.ReadLine());
}
sr2.Close();
List<String> ausgabeListe = pass1.Distinct().ToList();
ausgabeListe.Sort();
ausgabeListe.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);
StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(speichern);
file.WriteLine(ausgabeListe);
file.Close();
}
catch (Exception)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error");
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}

There's a handy little method File.WriteAllLines -- no need to open a StreamWriter yourself:
In .net 4:
File.WriteAllLines(speichern, ausgabeListe);
In .net 3.5:
File.WriteAllLines(speichern, ausgabeListe.ToArray());
Likewise, you could replace your reading logic with File.ReadAllLines, which returns an array of strings (use ToList() on that if you want a List<string>).
So, in fact, your complete code could be reduced to:
// Input
List<String> data = File.ReadAllLines(pfad + datei)
.Concat(File.ReadAllLines(pfad2 + datei2))
.Distinct().ToList();
// Processing
data.Sort();
// Output
data.ForEach(Console.WriteLine);
File.WriteAllLines(speichern, data);

It's this line which writes the ToString representation of the List, resulting into the text line you got:
StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(speichern);
file.WriteLine(ausgabeListe);
file.Close();
Instead you want to write each line.
StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(speichern);
ausgabeListe.ForEach(file.WriteLine);
file.Close();

Loop through the list, writing each line individually:
StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(speichern);
foreach(string line in ausgabeListe)
file.WriteLine(line);
file.Close();

Try the code below:
StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter("C:\\Users\\Alchemy\\Desktop\\c#\\InputFileFrmUser.csv");
list = new List<Product>() { new Product() { ProductId=1, Name="Nike 12N0",Brand="Nike",Price=12000,Quantity=50},
new Product() { ProductId =2, Name = "Puma 560K", Brand = "Puma", Price = 120000, Quantity = 55 },
new Product() { ProductId=3, Name="WoodLand V2",Brand="WoodLand",Price=21020,Quantity=25},
new Product() { ProductId=4, Name="Adidas S52",Brand="Adidas",Price=20000,Quantity=35},
new Product() { ProductId=5, Name="Rebook SPEED2O",Brand="Rebook",Price=1200,Quantity=15}};
foreach (var x in list) {
string wr = x.ProductId + " " + x.Name + "" + x.Brand + " " + x.Quantity + " " + x.Price;
writer.Flush();
writer.WriteLine(wr);
}
Console.WriteLine("--------ProductList Updated SucessFully----------------");

You are writing the list object into the file, so you see the type name.
Just as you are using ForEach to write the contents to the Console, you need to iterate over ausgabeListe, calling WriteLine() for each item in the list.

StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(speichern);
foreach(string x in ausgabeListe)
file.WriteLine(x);
file.Close();

I am using the LINQ like below to write each line to text file.
var myList=new List<string>
{
"Hello",
"World"
};
using (var file = new StreamWriter("myfile.txt"))
{
myList.ForEach(v=>file.WriteLine(v));
}

Open existing file, append a single line

I want to open a text file, append a single line to it, then close it.

You can use File.AppendAllText for that:
File.AppendAllText(#"c:\path\file.txt", "text content" + Environment.NewLine);

using (StreamWriter w = File.AppendText("myFile.txt"))
{
w.WriteLine("hello");
}

Choice one! But the first is very simple. The last maybe util for file manipulation:
//Method 1 (I like this)
File.AppendAllLines(
"FileAppendAllLines.txt",
new string[] { "line1", "line2", "line3" });
//Method 2
File.AppendAllText(
"FileAppendAllText.txt",
"line1" + Environment.NewLine +
"line2" + Environment.NewLine +
"line3" + Environment.NewLine);
//Method 3
using (StreamWriter stream = File.AppendText("FileAppendText.txt"))
{
stream.WriteLine("line1");
stream.WriteLine("line2");
stream.WriteLine("line3");
}
//Method 4
using (StreamWriter stream = new StreamWriter("StreamWriter.txt", true))
{
stream.WriteLine("line1");
stream.WriteLine("line2");
stream.WriteLine("line3");
}
//Method 5
using (StreamWriter stream = new FileInfo("FileInfo.txt").AppendText())
{
stream.WriteLine("line1");
stream.WriteLine("line2");
stream.WriteLine("line3");
}

Or you could use File.AppendAllLines(string, IEnumerable<string>)
File.AppendAllLines(#"C:\Path\file.txt", new[] { "my text content" });

Might want to check out the TextWriter class.
//Open File
TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter("file.txt");
//Write to file
tw.WriteLine("test info");
//Close File
tw.Close();

The technically best way is probably this here:
private static async Task AppendLineToFileAsync([NotNull] string path, string line)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(path))
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(path), path, "Was null or whitepsace.");
if (!File.Exists(path))
throw new FileNotFoundException("File not found.", nameof(path));
using (var file = File.Open(path, FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write))
using (var writer = new StreamWriter(file))
{
await writer.WriteLineAsync(line);
await writer.FlushAsync();
}
}

File.AppendText will do it:
using (StreamWriter w = File.AppendText("textFile.txt"))
{
w.WriteLine ("-------HURRAY----------");
w.Flush();
}

//display sample reg form in notepad.txt
using (StreamWriter stream = new FileInfo("D:\\tt.txt").AppendText())//ur file location//.AppendText())
{
stream.WriteLine("Name :" + textBox1.Text);//display textbox data in notepad
stream.WriteLine("DOB : " + dateTimePicker1.Text);//display datepicker data in notepad
stream.WriteLine("DEP:" + comboBox1.SelectedItem.ToString());
stream.WriteLine("EXM :" + listBox1.SelectedItem.ToString());
}

We can use
public StreamWriter(string path, bool append);
while opening the file
string path="C:\\MyFolder\\Notes.txt"
StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(path, true);
First parameter is a string to hold a full file path
Second parameter is Append Mode, that in this case is made true
Writing to the file can be done with:
writer.Write(string)
or
writer.WriteLine(string)
Sample Code
private void WriteAndAppend()
{
string Path = Application.StartupPath + "\\notes.txt";
FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(Path);
StreamWriter SW;
StreamReader SR;
if (fi.Exists)
{
SR = new StreamReader(Path);
string Line = "";
while (!SR.EndOfStream) // Till the last line
{
Line = SR.ReadLine();
}
SR.Close();
int x = 0;
if (Line.Trim().Length <= 0)
{
x = 0;
}
else
{
x = Convert.ToInt32(Line.Substring(0, Line.IndexOf('.')));
}
x++;
SW = new StreamWriter(Path, true);
SW.WriteLine("-----"+string.Format("{0:dd-MMM-yyyy hh:mm:ss tt}", DateTime.Now));
SW.WriteLine(x.ToString() + "." + textBox1.Text);
}
else
{
SW = new StreamWriter(Path);
SW.WriteLine("-----" + string.Format("{0:dd-MMM-yyyy hh:mm:ss tt}", DateTime.Now));
SW.WriteLine("1." + textBox1.Text);
}
SW.Flush();
SW.Close();
}