Write csv file with color code

Question

I am writing csv file from Datatable. Check my code below

      public static void SaveDataTableToCsvFile(string AbsolutePathAndFileName, DataTable TheDataTable, params string[] Options)
    {
        //variables
        string separator;
        if (Options.Length > 0)
        {
            separator = Options[0];
        }
        else
        {
            separator = ""; //default
        }
        string quote = "";

        FileInfo info = new FileInfo(AbsolutePathAndFileName);

        if (IsFileLocked(info))
        {
            MessageBox.Show("File is in use, please close the file");
            return;
        }
        //create CSV file
        StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(AbsolutePathAndFileName);

        //write header line
        int iColCount = TheDataTable.Columns.Count;
        for (int i = 0; i < iColCount; i++)
        {
            sw.Write(TheDataTable.Columns[i]);
            if (i < iColCount - 1)
            {
                sw.Write(separator);
            }
        }
        sw.Write(sw.NewLine);

        //write rows
        foreach (DataRow dr in TheDataTable.Rows)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < iColCount; i++)
            {
                if (!Convert.IsDBNull(dr[i]))
                {
                    string data = dr[i].ToString();
                    data = data.Replace("\"", "\\\"").Replace(",", " ");
                    sw.Write(quote + data + quote);
                }
                if (i < iColCount - 1)
                {
                    sw.Write(separator);
                }
            }
            sw.Write(sw.NewLine);

        }
        sw.Close();
    }

Code works for me ,but I need to add color code in some cells of csv.

How can I do that ?

That will defeat the puspose of a CSV file. You can not do that using a csv file. — Adriaan Stander, Aug 22 '12 at 04:59
possible duplicate of [make color cell in csv file for Excel](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5716069/make-color-cell-in-csv-file-for-excel) — Adriaan Stander, Aug 22 '12 at 05:05

score 24 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 07 '21 at 05:46

24

CSV is a pure data format without any formatting. It's a plain text file after all. So no, there is no way of adding colour.

edited Oct 07 '21 at 05:46

Community

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answered Aug 22 '12 at 04:59

Joey

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Why? If their question is »How can I do that« I think the answer »You cannot« is one. – Joey Aug 22 '12 at 05:00
@Joey are you sure ? I can not do that ? – Lajja Thaker Aug 22 '12 at 05:01
1

Yes, I am sure. Read the linked reference, which is sort of the de-facto CSV standard. Do you see anything about formatting in there? I don't. – Joey Aug 22 '12 at 05:44

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 22 '12 at 05:15

2

You might want to output an .xls (or equivalent) instead of a .csv using some external utility Or convert the csv to .xls in order to have color coding even possible

answered Aug 22 '12 at 05:15

rshetye

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That I am trying and is lot more complicated. – Sudhir Kaushik Dec 04 '19 at 07:20

Merenzo · Answer 3 · 2012-08-22T05:14:03.577

1

Joey is absolutely right.

But if your situation allows you to output an XLSX instead of a CSV, then EPPlus might be the solution for you.

e.g.

using (ExcelPackage ep = new ExcelPackage(AbsolutePathAndFileName))
{
    ExcelWorksheet worksheet = ep.Workbook.Worksheets.Add("Worksheet1");
    worksheet.Cells["A1"].LoadFromDataTable(TheDataTable, true); 
    worksheet.Cells["F4"].BackgroundColor.SetColor(Color.Red);
    ep.Save();
}

edited Aug 22 '12 at 05:14

answered Aug 22 '12 at 05:03

Merenzo

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so if you have 4 Datatables and need to add all of them to a single worksheet with 2 rows separating each of the 4 datatables would `EPPlus` still handle this I notice the .`Save()` I am use to using `Response.Headers` to export and allow the user to save or open the excel from the web does EPPlus support his ..? – MethodMan Dec 24 '15 at 00:29

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 26 '19 at 11:34

0

A CSV (comma-separated values) file is a text file. There is no way to add color too the file without changing it to another file format (such as RTF).

edited Nov 26 '19 at 11:34

IBam

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answered Aug 22 '12 at 05:01

Craig T

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RTF is a completely different format, though, representing rich text and not tabular data. – Joey Aug 22 '12 at 05:44

Write csv file with color code

4 Answers4

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