How do I best generate a CSV (comma-delimited text file) for download with ASP.NET?

Question

This is what I\'ve got. It works. But, is there a simpler or better way?

One an ASPX page, I\'ve got the download link...

Answer 1

Looking mostly good except in your function "BookString()" you should pass all those strings through a small function like this first:

Private Function formatForCSV(stringToProcess As String) As String
    If stringToProcess.Contains("""") Or stringToProcess.Contains(",") Then
        stringToProcess = String.Format("""{0}""", stringToProcess.Replace("""", """"""))
    End If
    Return stringToProcess
End Function

'So, lines like this:
CsvLine.Append(b.Title.Replace(",", "") + ",")
'would be lines like this instead:
CsvLine.Append(formatForCSV(b.Title)) + ",")

The function will format your strings well for CSV. It replaces quotes with double quotes and add quotes around the string if there are either quotes or commas in the string.

Note that it doesn't account for newlines, but can only safely guarantee good CSV output for those strings that you know are free of newlines (inputs from simple one-line text forms, etc.).