How do I handle line breaks in a CSV file using C#?

Question

I have an Excel spreadsheet being converted into a CSV file in C#, but am having a problem dealing with line breaks. For instance:

\"John\",\"23\",\"555-555         


        

Answer 1

A somewhat simple regular expression could be used on each line. When it matches, you process each field from the match. When it doesn't find a match, you skip that line.

The regular expression could look something like this.

Match match = Regex.Match(line, @"^(?:,?(?['"](?.*?\k'q')|(?[^,]*))+$");
if (match.Success)
{
  foreach (var capture in match.Groups["field"].Captures)
  {
    string fieldValue = capture.Value;
    // Use the value.
  }
}