Saving a 2D array to csv with separate cells in C#

Question

I'm having trouble saving a 2D array string[,] to a csv file in C#. I want each element to be in its own cell when I open the .csv file in Excel but with this code everything ends up in one column. What should I change in order to have every element in its own cell?

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    string[,] array = new string[2, 5];
    
    array[0, 0] = "ID";
    array[0, 1] = "Turns";
    array[0, 2] = "Forward Results";
    array[0, 3] = "Backward Results";
    array[0, 4] = "Trainings";
    
    array[1, 0] = "SEL-HYS-001";
    array[1, 1] = "5";
    array[1, 2] = "100%";
    array[1, 3] = "100%";
    array[1, 4] = "1";

    StreamWriter sw = File.CreateText("outputText.csv");
            
    for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
    {
        for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++)
        {
            sw.Write(array[i, j] + ";");
        }
        
        sw.Write("\n");
    }

    sw.Flush();
    sw.Close();

    Console.WriteLine("Success!");
}

You are separating values with a semi-colon, but the csv format uses commas as delimiter, that's why it's not working as you expect it. — nick
– nick, Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 22:22
@nick Ok I am glad it was that easy of a fix, thank you so much! — GiornoSassaki
– GiornoSassaki, Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 22:24
The field separator in Excel for loading CSV files depends on the language. A german Excel has a semicolon ";" as a field separator. — G Wimpassinger
– G Wimpassinger, Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 22:27

Dmitrii Bychenko · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-29 22:40:31Z

1

Let's split the initial problem in two; first, convert string[,] data into csv:

using System.IO;
using System.Linq;

...

private static IEnumerable<string> ToCsv(string[,] data, char delimiter = ';') {
  for (int r = 0; r < data.GetLength(0); ++r) {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

    for (int c = 0; c < data.GetLength(1); ++c) {
      string v = data[r, c] ?? "";

      // Do we have to escape? E.g. abc;d"ef -> "abc;d""ef"
      if (v.Any(c => c < ' ' || c == '"' || c == delimiter))
        v = "\"" + v.Replace("\"", "\"\"") + "\"";

      if (sb.Length > 0)
        sb.Append(delimiter);

      sb.Append(v);
    }

    yield return sb.ToString();
  }
}

Then write the data into a file:

string[,] array = ...

File.WriteAllLines("outputText.csv", ToCsv(array));

edited Nov 29, 2020 at 22:40

answered Nov 29, 2020 at 22:28

Dmitrii Bychenko

188k20 gold badges178 silver badges231 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Saving a 2D array to csv with separate cells in C#

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related