How to parse a csv file and paste only specified values into an Excel worksheet?

Question

Setup Environment:

I'm using vb.net to develop an Excel Add-In with .NET Framework 4.

My goal:

1. Parse a csv file into memory using vb.net
2. Once parsed, paste only specified values into an Excel worksheet

After researching, this link provided a good start:

• Parse Delimited CSV in .NET

The code I'm using right now relies on the TextFieldParserClass in .Net

    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click

        Dim FileName As String = "C:\Users\windows7User\Desktop\RecordedRuns\recordedrun92637777.csv"

        'Use a collection of strings to retreive all values from the csv file
        Dim recordedRunCollection As New System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection

        Dim afile As FileIO.TextFieldParser = New FileIO.TextFieldParser(FileName)
        Dim CurrentRecord As String() ' this array will hold each line of data
        afile.TextFieldType = FileIO.FieldType.Delimited
        afile.Delimiters = New String() {","}
        afile.HasFieldsEnclosedInQuotes = True

        'parse the actual file
        Do While Not afile.EndOfData
            Try

                'If current row has 2 fields, this stores 2 strings.  If row has 3 fields, stores 3 strings.
                CurrentRecord = afile.ReadFields


                For Each storedField As String In CurrentRecord

                    'Take each field and add it to the collection
                    recordedRunCollection.Add(storedField)

                Next

            Catch ex As FileIO.MalformedLineException
                Stop
            End Try
        Loop

        'Run Start Time
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(11))

        'Run Duration
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(13))

        'Run Tag
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(15))

        '00:00
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(55))

        '00:15
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(58))

        '00:30
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(61))

        '00:45
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(64))

        '01:00
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(67))

        '01:15
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(70))

        '01:30
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(73))

        '01:45
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(76))

        '02:00
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(79))

        '02:15
        MsgBox(recordedRunCollection(82))

    End Sub

I have no control over how the csv file is exported. This is what it looks like:

This is the only data I need from it:

I'm hoping there is a better way to approach this, but I'm not sure how.

Could somebody provide a pointer on what the right method to use is? I'd really appreciate it.

Additional Notes:

Here is the csv file if you want to copy it:

SerialNumber,312315
Model,"DD"
MessageStore,""
Version,R0V2
Run,1
RunStartTime,24-Mar-14 08:39:40
RunDuration,9 minutes 15 seconds
RunTag,"Test1"
LoggingInterval,"15.0"
LeftScaleSerialNumber,233730
LeftScaleDatatype,Upper
LeftScaleUnits,""
LeftScaleUserFactor,""
LeftScaleUserOffset,"0.00000"
LeftScaleUserResolution,""
UpperModuleSerialNumber,25
UpperModuleModel,1KSI
UpperModuleMessageStore,""
UpperModuleUserspan,""
UpperModuleUnits,""
UpperModuleUserFactor,"10"
UpperModuleUserOffset,"0.00000"
UpperModuleUserResolution,"1"
UpperModuleVersion,R090007
UpperModuleCalDue,25-Jun-13
Point#,Time,LeftScaleReading
1, 00:00:00.0,"2179"
2, 00:00:15.0,"23603"
3, 00:00:30.0,"23573"
4, 00:00:45.0,"23564"
5, 00:01:00.0,"23590"
6, 00:01:15.0,"23573"
7, 00:01:30.0,"23525"
8, 00:01:45.0,"23564"
9, 00:02:00.0,"23537"
10, 00:02:15.0,"23506"
11, 00:02:30.0,"1657"

Answer 1

If the output is more or less standard, lets say you know that the lines you need start as RunStart, RunTag, RunDuration and the numeric ones, then you can open the csv file through regular Stream, read a line(the output you've shown, convert it to string and Check if it contains the data you need. If it does, split it on the comma and output however you need. If you need a code for this, let me know, I am a bit strapped on time right now, but can create it later today or tomorrow.

Hope this helps.

Also, if you can paste the CSV here, as text, I can use it to test.

Answer 2

This is how I would do it, i think. Let me know if you have the code to import it to excel.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO;
using System.Diagnostics;

namespace CSVParser
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //location of the file
            System.IO.StreamReader _fs = new StreamReader("../../TextFile1.txt");
            int _result;
            while (!_fs.EndOfStream)
            {
                string _filestring = _fs.ReadLine();
                string[] _csvstring = _filestring.Split(Convert.ToChar(","));
                if(_csvstring.Length > 1)
                {
                    //check if the string begins with run maybe ignore the first run, since you don't need it
                    if (_csvstring[0].StartsWith("Run") && !_csvstring[0].Equals("Run"))
                    {

                        Debug.WriteLine(_csvstring[0] + "-" + _csvstring[1]);
                    }
                    //check for the datapoints based ont heir numeric values
                    if(int.TryParse(_csvstring[0],out _result))
                    {
                        if (_result <= 10)
                        {
                            Debug.WriteLine(_csvstring[0] + "-" + _csvstring[1] + "-" + _csvstring[2]);
                        }
                    }
                }

            }
            _fs.Close();
        }
    }
}