C# Save DataGridView to Text File

Question

I'm currently attempting to use datagridview for the first time, I have managed to do many things with it so far (such as importing text files) however, I have trouble when attempting to save the datagridview's contents to a text file.

The output I'm currently getting is:

    0,
 Cat,
 Yes,
10,
20,
30,
40,
50,
1,
 Dog,
 No,
10,
20,
30,
40,
50,

I want the export to look like this:

0, Cat, Yes, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50
1, Dog, No, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50
etc.

This is the code I'm currently using:

using (TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter("example.txt"))
{
    for(int i = 0; i < dataGridView1.Rows.Count - 1; i++)
                {
                    for(int j = 0; j < dataGridView1.Columns.Count; j++)
                    {
                        tw.WriteLine($"{dataGridView1.Rows[i].Cells[j].Value.ToString()},");
                    }
                }
    }

Anyone here able to help me with this issue? Thank you!

change `WriteLine` to `Write` and add a call to `Trim()` after the `ToString()` — jtate, May 14 '19 at 21:19

IceCode · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-14T22:34:51.097

9

Try the following changes tw.Write() insted of tw.WriteLine():

using (TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter("example.txt"))
{
    for(int i = 0; i < dataGridView1.Rows.Count - 1; i++)
    {
         for(int j = 0; j < dataGridView1.Columns.Count; j++)
         {
             tw.Write($"{dataGridView1.Rows[i].Cells[j].Value.ToString()}");

             if(!j == dataGridView1.Columns.Count - 1)
             {
                tw.Write(",");
             }
         }
         tw.WriteLine();
     }
}

edited May 14 '19 at 22:34

answered May 14 '19 at 21:19

IceCode

1,466
13
22

This works great, however I do have a comma at the end of each line: `0, Cat, Yes, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 1, Dog, No, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50,` is there a way to remove those end ones? Cheers! – ACƎ May 14 '19 at 21:37
I have added changes to my answer. Please test it and let me know. – IceCode May 14 '19 at 21:59
Sadly it didn't work, the commas are still appearing on the end. I also had to change `if(!j == dataGridView1.Columns.Count)` to `if(j != dataGridView1.Columns.Count)` – ACƎ May 14 '19 at 22:11
Ahh sorry it should be like `if(!j == dataGridView1.Columns.Count - 1)` – IceCode May 14 '19 at 22:17

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 11 '19 at 02:46

So, DGV to Text file? This is how I do it.

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //This line of code creates a text file for the data export.
            System.IO.StreamWriter file = new System.IO.StreamWriter(@"C:\\your_path_here\\sample.txt");
            try
            {
                string sLine = "";

                //This for loop loops through each row in the table
                for (int r = 0; r <= dataGridView1.Rows.Count - 1; r++)
                {
                    //This for loop loops through each column, and the row number
                    //is passed from the for loop above.
                    for (int c = 0; c <= dataGridView1.Columns.Count - 1; c++)
                    {
                        sLine = sLine + dataGridView1.Rows[r].Cells[c].Value;
                        if (c != dataGridView1.Columns.Count - 1)
                        {
                            //A comma is added as a text delimiter in order
                            //to separate each field in the text file.
                            //You can choose another character as a delimiter.
                            sLine = sLine + ",";
                        }
                    }
                    //The exported text is written to the text file, one line at a time.
                    file.WriteLine(sLine);
                    sLine = "";
                }

                file.Close();
                System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("Export Complete.", "Program Info", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information);
            }
            catch (System.Exception err)
            {
                System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(err.Message, "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
                file.Close();
            }
        }

Terry Tyson · Answer 3 · 2019-05-14T21:41:54.077

1

Use tw.Write() instead of tw.WriteLine() until you are finished with all but the last column for the row, then you tw.WriteLine() on the last column data to end the line.

edited May 14 '19 at 21:41

answered May 14 '19 at 21:17

Terry Tyson

629
8
18

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 17 '21 at 17:47

I don't work in C#, but often use these forums as a reference. I develop interfaces for industrial applications. Anyway, the simplest way to do this is through the clipboard. Use the SelectAll() method on your DGV, Throw that DGV data into the Clipboard with the Clipboard.SetDataObject() method, use the File.WriteAllText(), and Clipboard.GetText() methods to write the clipboard text to a file. My code is below. You will notice I have to write out everything from it's namespace so I apologize for it not being exactly how C# is. Note: If you want to make a csv file, DGVs view cell breaks as horizontal tabs (ascii 9). You can do a replace() method for commas. Note: DGV.ClearSelection() is a nice way to finish it off. Note: you may have to enable ClipboardCopyMode on your DGV.

DataGridView1.SelectAll();
System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.SetDataObject(DataGridView1.GetClipboardContent());
System.IO.File.WriteAllText("File.txt",System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.GetText());

Yes, it works to save the data but there seems to be no way to restore it later in the same way. — Michael Hutter, Aug 31 '21 at 04:25

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 31 '21 at 05:18

With the following code you can save and restore the content of every dataGridView.

How to do it:

string sContent = "";
private void btnSaveDataGridViewContent_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    sContent = ReadStringFromDataGridView(ref dataGridView1);
    [Write sContent to File/Database/Whatever]
}

private void btnRestoreDataGridViewContent_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    [Read sContent from File/Database/Whatever]
    WriteStringToDataGridView(ref dataGridView1, sContent);
}

Helper functions:

string ReadStringFromDataGridView(ref DataGridView MyDataGridView)
{
    string sContent = "";
    for (int row = 0; row<MyDataGridView.RowCount; row++)
    {
        if (row > 0) sContent += "\r";
        for (int col = 0; col<MyDataGridView.ColumnCount; col++)
        {
            if (col > 0) sContent += ";";
            sContent += MyDataGridView[col, row].Value;
        }
    }
    return sContent;
}

void WriteStringToDataGridView(ref DataGridView MyDataGridView, string sContent)
{
    MyDataGridView.Rows.Clear();
    string[] Rows = sContent.Split("\r".ToCharArray());
    for (int row=0; row<Rows.Length; row++)
    {
        MyDataGridView.RowCount = Rows.Length;
        string[] Cols = Rows[row].Split(";".ToCharArray());
        for (int col=0; col<Cols.Length; col++)
        {
            MyDataGridView[col, row].Value = Cols[col];
        }
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 07 '23 at 06:19

0

string file = "C:\\Users\\Sangeeth\\Desktop\\Excel.txt";            
        using (TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter(file))
        {
            int i, j = 0;
            for(i = 0; i < dataGridView1.Rows.Count -1; i++)
            {
                for (j = 0; j < dataGridView1.Columns.Count; j++)
                {

                    tw.Write($"{dataGridView1.Rows[i].Cells[j].Value.ToString()}");
                    tw.Write(",");
                }

                tw.WriteLine(" ");
            }
        }

answered Feb 07 '23 at 06:19

pradeep

1
1

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Feb 09 '23 at 02:08

C# Save DataGridView to Text File

6 Answers6