How can I load a CSV file into a System.Data.DataTable, creating the datatable based on the CSV file?
Does the regular ADO.net functionality allow this?
How to read a CSV file into a .NET Datatable
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23 Answers
I have been using OleDb provider. However, it has problems if you are reading in rows that have numeric values but you want them treated as text. However, you can get around that issue by creating a schema.ini file. Here is my method I used:
// using System.Data;
// using System.Data.OleDb;
// using System.Globalization;
// using System.IO;
static DataTable GetDataTableFromCsv(string path, bool isFirstRowHeader)
{
string header = isFirstRowHeader ? "Yes" : "No";
string pathOnly = Path.GetDirectoryName(path);
string fileName = Path.GetFileName(path);
string sql = @"SELECT * FROM [" + fileName + "]";
using(OleDbConnection connection = new OleDbConnection(
@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" + pathOnly +
";Extended Properties=\"Text;HDR=" + header + "\""))
using(OleDbCommand command = new OleDbCommand(sql, connection))
using(OleDbDataAdapter adapter = new OleDbDataAdapter(command))
{
DataTable dataTable = new DataTable();
dataTable.Locale = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
adapter.Fill(dataTable);
return dataTable;
}
}
Here's an excellent class that will copy CSV data into a datatable using the structure of the data to create the DataTable:
A portable and efficient generic parser for flat files
It's easy to configure and easy to use. I urge you to take a look.
I have decided to use Sebastien Lorion's Csv Reader.
Jay Riggs suggestion is a great solution also, but I just didn't need all of the features that that Andrew Rissing's Generic Parser provides.
UPDATE 10/25/2010
After using Sebastien Lorion's Csv Reader in my project for nearly a year and a half, I have found that it throws exceptions when parsing some csv files that I believe to be well formed.
So, I did switch to Andrew Rissing's Generic Parser and it seems to be doing much better.
UPDATE 9/22/2014
These days, I mostly use this extension method to read delimited text:
https://www.nuget.org/packages/CoreTechs.Common/
UPDATE 2/20/2015
Example:
var csv = @"Name, Age
Ronnie, 30
Mark, 40
Ace, 50";
TextReader reader = new StringReader(csv);
var table = new DataTable();
using(var it = reader.ReadCsvWithHeader().GetEnumerator())
{
if (!it.MoveNext()) return;
foreach (var k in it.Current.Keys)
table.Columns.Add(k);
do
{
var row = table.NewRow();
foreach (var k in it.Current.Keys)
row[k] = it.Current[k];
table.Rows.Add(row);
} while (it.MoveNext());
}
private static DataTable LoadCsvData(string refPath)
{
var cfg = new Configuration() { Delimiter = ",", HasHeaderRecord = true };
var result = new DataTable();
using (var sr = new StreamReader(refPath, Encoding.UTF8, false, 16384 * 2))
{
using (var rdr = new CsvReader(sr, cfg))
using (var dataRdr = new CsvDataReader(rdr))
{
result.Load(dataRdr);
}
}
return result;
}
With Cinchoo ETL - an open source library, you can easily convert CSV file to DataTable with few lines of code.
using (var p = new ChoCSVReader(** YOUR CSV FILE **)
.WithFirstLineHeader()
)
{
var dt = p.AsDataTable();
}
For more information, please visit codeproject article.
Sample fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/jxhUVX
Here's a solution that uses ADO.Net's ODBC text driver:
Dim csvFileFolder As String = "C:\YourFileFolder"
Dim csvFileName As String = "YourFile.csv"
'Note that the folder is specified in the connection string,
'not the file. That's specified in the SELECT query, later.
Dim connString As String = "Driver={Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt; *.csv)};Dbq=" _
& csvFileFolder & ";Extended Properties=""Text;HDR=No;FMT=Delimited"""
Dim conn As New Odbc.OdbcConnection(connString)
'Open a data adapter, specifying the file name to load
Dim da As New Odbc.OdbcDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM [" & csvFileName & "]", conn)
'Then fill a data table, which can be bound to a grid
Dim dt As New DataTableda.Fill(dt)
grdCSVData.DataSource = dt
Once filled, you can value properties of the datatable, like ColumnName, to make utilize all the powers of the ADO.Net data objects.
In VS2008 you can use Linq to achieve the same effect.
NOTE: This may be a duplicate of this SO question.
I use a library called ExcelDataReader, you can find it on NuGet. Be sure to install both ExcelDataReader and the ExcelDataReader.DataSet extension (the latter provides the required AsDataSet method referenced below).
I encapsulated everything in one function, you can copy it in your code directly. Give it a path to CSV file, it gets you a dataset with one table.
public static DataSet GetDataSet(string filepath)
{
var stream = File.OpenRead(filepath);
try
{
var reader = ExcelReaderFactory.CreateCsvReader(stream, new ExcelReaderConfiguration()
{
LeaveOpen = false
});
var result = reader.AsDataSet(new ExcelDataSetConfiguration()
{
// Gets or sets a value indicating whether to set the DataColumn.DataType
// property in a second pass.
UseColumnDataType = true,
// Gets or sets a callback to determine whether to include the current sheet
// in the DataSet. Called once per sheet before ConfigureDataTable.
FilterSheet = (tableReader, sheetIndex) => true,
// Gets or sets a callback to obtain configuration options for a DataTable.
ConfigureDataTable = (tableReader) => new ExcelDataTableConfiguration()
{
// Gets or sets a value indicating the prefix of generated column names.
EmptyColumnNamePrefix = "Column",
// Gets or sets a value indicating whether to use a row from the
// data as column names.
UseHeaderRow = true,
// Gets or sets a callback to determine which row is the header row.
// Only called when UseHeaderRow = true.
ReadHeaderRow = (rowReader) =>
{
// F.ex skip the first row and use the 2nd row as column headers:
//rowReader.Read();
},
// Gets or sets a callback to determine whether to include the
// current row in the DataTable.
FilterRow = (rowReader) =>
{
return true;
},
// Gets or sets a callback to determine whether to include the specific
// column in the DataTable. Called once per column after reading the
// headers.
FilterColumn = (rowReader, columnIndex) =>
{
return true;
}
}
});
return result;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
return null;
}
finally
{
stream.Close();
stream.Dispose();
}
}
I've recently written a CSV parser for .NET that I'm claiming is currently the fastest available as a nuget package: Sylvan.Data.Csv.
Using this library to load a DataTable is extremely easy.
using var dr = CsvDataReader.Create("data.csv");
var dt = new DataTable();
dt.Load(dr);
Assuming your file is a standard comma separated files with headers, that's all you need. There are also options to allow reading files without headers, and using alternate delimiters etc.
It is also possible to provide a custom schema for the CSV file so that columns can be treated as something other than string values. This will allow the DataTable columns to be loaded with values that can be easier to work with, as you won't have to coerce them when you access them.
This can be accomplished by providing an ICsvSchemaProvider implementation, which exposes a single method DbColumn? GetColumn(string? name, int ordinal). The DbColumn type is an abstract type defined in System.Data.Common, which means that you would have to provide an implementation of that too if you implement your own schema provider. The DbColumn type exposes a variety of metadata about a column, and you can choose to expose as much of the metadata as needed. The most important metadata is the DataType and AllowDBNull.
A very simple implementation that would expose type information could look like the following:
class TypedCsvColumn : DbColumn
{
public TypedCsvColumn(Type type, bool allowNull)
{
// if you assign ColumnName here, it will override whatever is in the csv header
this.DataType = type;
this.AllowDBNull = allowNull;
}
}
class TypedCsvSchema : ICsvSchemaProvider
{
List<TypedCsvColumn> columns;
public TypedCsvSchema()
{
this.columns = new List<TypedCsvColumn>();
}
public TypedCsvSchema Add(Type type, bool allowNull = false)
{
this.columns.Add(new TypedCsvColumn(type, allowNull));
return this;
}
DbColumn? ICsvSchemaProvider.GetColumn(string? name, int ordinal)
{
return ordinal < columns.Count ? columns[ordinal] : null;
}
}
To consume this implementation you would do the following:
var schema = new TypedCsvSchema()
.Add(typeof(int))
.Add(typeof(string))
.Add(typeof(double), true)
.Add(typeof(DateTime))
.Add(typeof(DateTime), true);
var options = new CsvDataReaderOptions
{
Schema = schema
};
using var dr = CsvDataReader.Create("data.csv", options);
...
Use this, one function solve all problems of comma and quote:
public static DataTable CsvToDataTable(string strFilePath)
{
if (File.Exists(strFilePath))
{
string[] Lines;
string CSVFilePathName = strFilePath;
Lines = File.ReadAllLines(CSVFilePathName);
while (Lines[0].EndsWith(","))
{
Lines[0] = Lines[0].Remove(Lines[0].Length - 1);
}
string[] Fields;
Fields = Lines[0].Split(new char[] { ',' });
int Cols = Fields.GetLength(0);
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
//1st row must be column names; force lower case to ensure matching later on.
for (int i = 0; i < Cols; i++)
dt.Columns.Add(Fields[i], typeof(string));
DataRow Row;
int rowcount = 0;
try
{
string[] ToBeContinued = new string[]{};
bool lineToBeContinued = false;
for (int i = 1; i < Lines.GetLength(0); i++)
{
if (!Lines[i].Equals(""))
{
Fields = Lines[i].Split(new char[] { ',' });
string temp0 = string.Join("", Fields).Replace("\"\"", "");
int quaotCount0 = temp0.Count(c => c == '"');
if (Fields.GetLength(0) < Cols || lineToBeContinued || quaotCount0 % 2 != 0)
{
if (ToBeContinued.GetLength(0) > 0)
{
ToBeContinued[ToBeContinued.Length - 1] += "\n" + Fields[0];
Fields = Fields.Skip(1).ToArray();
}
string[] newArray = new string[ToBeContinued.Length + Fields.Length];
Array.Copy(ToBeContinued, newArray, ToBeContinued.Length);
Array.Copy(Fields, 0, newArray, ToBeContinued.Length, Fields.Length);
ToBeContinued = newArray;
string temp = string.Join("", ToBeContinued).Replace("\"\"", "");
int quaotCount = temp.Count(c => c == '"');
if (ToBeContinued.GetLength(0) >= Cols && quaotCount % 2 == 0 )
{
Fields = ToBeContinued;
ToBeContinued = new string[] { };
lineToBeContinued = false;
}
else
{
lineToBeContinued = true;
continue;
}
}
//modified by Teemo @2016 09 13
//handle ',' and '"'
//Deserialize CSV following Excel's rule:
// 1: If there is commas in a field, quote the field.
// 2: Two consecutive quotes indicate a user's quote.
List<int> singleLeftquota = new List<int>();
List<int> singleRightquota = new List<int>();
//combine fileds if number of commas match
if (Fields.GetLength(0) > Cols)
{
bool lastSingleQuoteIsLeft = true;
for (int j = 0; j < Fields.GetLength(0); j++)
{
bool leftOddquota = false;
bool rightOddquota = false;
if (Fields[j].StartsWith("\""))
{
int numberOfConsecutiveQuotes = 0;
foreach (char c in Fields[j]) //start with how many "
{
if (c == '"')
{
numberOfConsecutiveQuotes++;
}
else
{
break;
}
}
if (numberOfConsecutiveQuotes % 2 == 1)//start with odd number of quotes indicate system quote
{
leftOddquota = true;
}
}
if (Fields[j].EndsWith("\""))
{
int numberOfConsecutiveQuotes = 0;
for (int jj = Fields[j].Length - 1; jj >= 0; jj--)
{
if (Fields[j].Substring(jj,1) == "\"") // end with how many "
{
numberOfConsecutiveQuotes++;
}
else
{
break;
}
}
if (numberOfConsecutiveQuotes % 2 == 1)//end with odd number of quotes indicate system quote
{
rightOddquota = true;
}
}
if (leftOddquota && !rightOddquota)
{
singleLeftquota.Add(j);
lastSingleQuoteIsLeft = true;
}
else if (!leftOddquota && rightOddquota)
{
singleRightquota.Add(j);
lastSingleQuoteIsLeft = false;
}
else if (Fields[j] == "\"") //only one quota in a field
{
if (lastSingleQuoteIsLeft)
{
singleRightquota.Add(j);
}
else
{
singleLeftquota.Add(j);
}
}
}
if (singleLeftquota.Count == singleRightquota.Count)
{
int insideCommas = 0;
for (int indexN = 0; indexN < singleLeftquota.Count; indexN++)
{
insideCommas += singleRightquota[indexN] - singleLeftquota[indexN];
}
if (Fields.GetLength(0) - Cols >= insideCommas) //probabaly matched
{
int validFildsCount = insideCommas + Cols; //(Fields.GetLength(0) - insideCommas) may be exceed the Cols
String[] temp = new String[validFildsCount];
int totalOffSet = 0;
for (int iii = 0; iii < validFildsCount - totalOffSet; iii++)
{
bool combine = false;
int storedIndex = 0;
for (int iInLeft = 0; iInLeft < singleLeftquota.Count; iInLeft++)
{
if (iii + totalOffSet == singleLeftquota[iInLeft])
{
combine = true;
storedIndex = iInLeft;
break;
}
}
if (combine)
{
int offset = singleRightquota[storedIndex] - singleLeftquota[storedIndex];
for (int combineI = 0; combineI <= offset; combineI++)
{
temp[iii] += Fields[iii + totalOffSet + combineI] + ",";
}
temp[iii] = temp[iii].Remove(temp[iii].Length - 1, 1);
totalOffSet += offset;
}
else
{
temp[iii] = Fields[iii + totalOffSet];
}
}
Fields = temp;
}
}
}
Row = dt.NewRow();
for (int f = 0; f < Cols; f++)
{
Fields[f] = Fields[f].Replace("\"\"", "\""); //Two consecutive quotes indicate a user's quote
if (Fields[f].StartsWith("\""))
{
if (Fields[f].EndsWith("\""))
{
Fields[f] = Fields[f].Remove(0, 1);
if (Fields[f].Length > 0)
{
Fields[f] = Fields[f].Remove(Fields[f].Length - 1, 1);
}
}
}
Row[f] = Fields[f];
}
dt.Rows.Add(Row);
rowcount++;
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception( "row: " + (rowcount+2) + ", " + ex.Message);
}
//OleDbConnection connection = new OleDbConnection(string.Format(@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source={0}; Extended Properties=""text;HDR=Yes;FMT=Delimited"";", FilePath + FileName));
//OleDbCommand command = new OleDbCommand("SELECT * FROM " + FileName, connection);
//OleDbDataAdapter adapter = new OleDbDataAdapter(command);
//DataTable dt = new DataTable();
//adapter.Fill(dt);
//adapter.Dispose();
return dt;
}
else
return null;
//OleDbConnection connection = new OleDbConnection(string.Format(@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source={0}; Extended Properties=""text;HDR=Yes;FMT=Delimited"";", strFilePath));
//OleDbCommand command = new OleDbCommand("SELECT * FROM " + strFileName, connection);
//OleDbDataAdapter adapter = new OleDbDataAdapter(command);
//DataTable dt = new DataTable();
//adapter.Fill(dt);
//return dt;
}
Just sharing this extension methods, I hope that it can help someone.
public static List<string> ToCSV(this DataSet ds, char separator = '|')
{
List<string> lResult = new List<string>();
foreach (DataTable dt in ds.Tables)
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
IEnumerable<string> columnNames = dt.Columns.Cast<DataColumn>().
Select(column => column.ColumnName);
sb.AppendLine(string.Join(separator.ToString(), columnNames));
foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows)
{
IEnumerable<string> fields = row.ItemArray.Select(field =>
string.Concat("\"", field.ToString().Replace("\"", "\"\""), "\""));
sb.AppendLine(string.Join(separator.ToString(), fields));
}
lResult.Add(sb.ToString());
}
return lResult;
}
public static DataSet CSVtoDataSet(this List<string> collectionCSV, char separator = '|')
{
var ds = new DataSet();
foreach (var csv in collectionCSV)
{
var dt = new DataTable();
var readHeader = false;
foreach (var line in csv.Split(new[] { Environment.NewLine }, StringSplitOptions.None))
{
if (!readHeader)
{
foreach (var c in line.Split(separator))
dt.Columns.Add(c);
}
else
{
dt.Rows.Add(line.Split(separator));
}
}
ds.Tables.Add(dt);
}
return ds;
}
Public Function ReadCsvFileToDataTable(strFilePath As String) As DataTable
Dim dtCsv As DataTable = New DataTable()
Dim Fulltext As String
Using sr As StreamReader = New StreamReader(strFilePath)
While Not sr.EndOfStream
Fulltext = sr.ReadToEnd().ToString()
Dim rows As String() = Fulltext.Split(vbLf)
For i As Integer = 0 To rows.Count() - 1 - 1
Dim rowValues As String() = rows(i).Split(","c)
If True Then
If i = 0 Then
For j As Integer = 0 To rowValues.Count() - 1
dtCsv.Columns.Add(rowValues(j))
Next
Else
Dim dr As DataRow = dtCsv.NewRow()
For k As Integer = 0 To rowValues.Count() - 1
dr(k) = rowValues(k).ToString()
Next
dtCsv.Rows.Add(dr)
End If
End If
Next
End While
End Using
Return dtCsv
End Function
Converter csv to DataTable. You can choose separator, isFirstRowHeaders and prefix for extra headers if your first row is not full list of headers, or you automaticle generate headers.
public DataTable GetDataFromCsv(string path, char separator, bool isFirstRowHeaders = true, string prefixAutoHeader = "AutoHeader_")
{
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
string csvData;
try
{
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(path))
{
csvData = sr.ReadToEnd().ToString();
//Split csvData by Rows
List<string> csvRows = new List<string>(csvData.Split('\n'));
//Split rows by cells with selected separator
List<List<string>> csvCells = new List<List<string>>();
csvRows.ForEach(r => csvCells.Add(new List<string>(r.Split(separator))));
//definition row max size, for adding extra headers
int maxSizeRow = csvCells.OrderByDescending(r => r.Count).First().Count;
//if isFirstRowHeaders then filling datatable headers from first csvRow
if (isFirstRowHeaders)
{
foreach (string header in csvCells[0])
{
dt.Columns.Add(header);
}
}
//Adding extra headers in datatable or create AutoHeaders if isFirstRowHeaders == false
for (int i = dt.Columns.Count; i < maxSizeRow; i++)
{
dt.Columns.Add(prefixAutoHeader + i);
}
//Filling datatable
foreach (var row in csvCells)
{
//Skip the first row if it is consist headers
if (isFirstRowHeaders)
{
isFirstRowHeaders = false;
}
else
{
//creating datatable row and Add to datatable
int i = 0;
DataRow toInsert = dt.NewRow();
foreach (string cell in row)
{
try
{
toInsert[i] = cell;
}
catch (Exception ex) { }
i++;
}
dt.Rows.Add(toInsert);
}
}
}
return dt;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
return null;
}
}
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