Reading CSV file and storing values into an array

Question

I am trying to read a *.csv-file.

The *.csv-file consist of two columns separated by semicolon (\";\").

I am able

Answer 1

If you need to skip (head-)lines and/or columns, you can use this to create a 2-dimensional array:

    var lines = File.ReadAllLines(path).Select(a => a.Split(';'));
    var csv = (from line in lines               
               select (from col in line
               select col).Skip(1).ToArray() // skip the first column
              ).Skip(2).ToArray(); // skip 2 headlines

This is quite useful if you need to shape the data before you process it further (assuming the first 2 lines consist of the headline, and the first column is a row title - which you don't need to have in the array because you just want to regard the data).

N.B. You can easily get the headlines and the 1st column by using the following code:

    var coltitle = (from line in lines 
                    select line.Skip(1).ToArray() // skip 1st column
                   ).Skip(1).Take(1).FirstOrDefault().ToArray(); // take the 2nd row
    var rowtitle = (from line in lines select line[0] // take 1st column
                   ).Skip(2).ToArray(); // skip 2 headlines

This code example assumes the following structure of your *.csv file:

Note: If you need to skip empty rows - which can by handy sometimes, you can do so by inserting

    where line.Any(a=>!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(a))

between the from and the select statement in the LINQ code examples above.