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How to merge Excel column with dynamic value

I trying to merge the excel column when there is same value in the first 2 row. The value is coming from my database query. Currently what I had generated is like this:
I want to merge the column like this:
Here is my function code:
public static async Task<MemoryStream> getNewListingExcelWithContentColumnMerge<T>(List<T> list, List<string> header, string name, string headerTitle)
{
try
{
int row = 3;
int col = 1;
MemoryStream output = new MemoryStream();
using (ExcelPackage package = new ExcelPackage())
{
ExcelWorksheet ws = package.Workbook.Worksheets.Add(name);
ws.PrinterSettings.PaperSize = ePaperSize.A4;
ws.PrinterSettings.FitToPage = true;
ws.Cells["A1:D1"].Merge = true;
ws.Cells["A1:D1"].Value = headerTitle;
for (int i = 0; i < header.Count(); i++)
{
ws.Cells[row, col].Value = header[i];
col++;
}
ws.Cells[1, 1, 1, col].Style.Font.Bold = true;
col = 1;
row++;
for (int i = 0; i < list.Count(); i++)
{
Type type = list[i].GetType();
PropertyInfo[] properties = type.GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties)
{
object asd = property.GetValue(list[i], null);
//Add data to the next line if consist of '\n'.
if (asd != null && asd.ToString().Contains(Environment.NewLine))
{
var splitValue = asd.ToString().Split(new string[] { Environment.NewLine }, StringSplitOptions.None);
var sameValuePlacementList = new List<int>();
for (var j = 0; j < splitValue.Count(); j++)
{
if (j == 0)
{
ws.Cells[row, col].Value = splitValue[j];
ws.Cells[row, col].Style.WrapText = true;
}
else
{
ws.Cells[row, col].RichText.Add(Environment.NewLine + splitValue[j]);
}
}
}
else
{
ws.Cells[row, col].Value = asd;
}
col++;
}
col = 1;
row++;
}
ws.Cells[3, 1, ws.Dimension.End.Row, ws.Dimension.End.Column - 1].AutoFitColumns();
ws.Cells[3, 1, ws.Dimension.End.Row, ws.Dimension.End.Column - 1].Style.Border.Bottom.Style = ExcelBorderStyle.Thin;
ws.Cells[3, 1, ws.Dimension.End.Row, ws.Dimension.End.Column - 1].Style.Border.Top.Style = ExcelBorderStyle.Thin;
ws.Cells[3, 1, ws.Dimension.End.Row, ws.Dimension.End.Column - 1].Style.Border.Right.Style = ExcelBorderStyle.Thin;
ws.Cells[3, 1, ws.Dimension.End.Row, ws.Dimension.End.Column - 1].Style.Border.Left.Style = ExcelBorderStyle.Thin;
package.SaveAs(output);
return output;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
return null;
}
}
What can I try next?

You can do it this way:
ws.Range[ws.Cells[1, 1], ws.Cells[4, 1]].Merge();
It will merge rows from 1 to 4 in column 1.

int tempRow = startRowForMerge;
int firstSameRowIndex = 0;
int lastSameRowIndex = 0;
int maxCount = tempRow + list.Count() - 1; // -1 because array start from 0
bool needToMerge = false;
foreach(int tempColumn in mergeColumnList)
{
tempRow = startRowForMerge;
for (int i = 0; i < list.Count(); i++)
{
if (tempRow < maxCount)
{
if (row > 4 && ws.Cells[tempRow, tempColumn].Value.ToString() == ws.Cells[tempRow - 1, tempColumn].Value.ToString())
{
needToMerge = true;
if (firstSameRowIndex == 0)
{
firstSameRowIndex = tempRow - 1;
}
lastSameRowIndex = tempRow;
}
else
{
if (needToMerge == true) // to merge data in between the list
{
ws.Cells[firstSameRowIndex, tempColumn, lastSameRowIndex, tempColumn].Merge = true;
ws.Cells[firstSameRowIndex, tempColumn, lastSameRowIndex, tempColumn].Style.VerticalAlignment = ExcelVerticalAlignment.Center;
needToMerge = false;
firstSameRowIndex = 0;
lastSameRowIndex = 0;
}
}
}
else
{
if (needToMerge == true) // to merge data in last row
{
ws.Cells[firstSameRowIndex, tempColumn, lastSameRowIndex, tempColumn].Merge = true;
ws.Cells[firstSameRowIndex, tempColumn, lastSameRowIndex, tempColumn].Style.VerticalAlignment = ExcelVerticalAlignment.Center;
needToMerge = false;
firstSameRowIndex = 0;
lastSameRowIndex = 0;
}
}
tempRow++;
}
}

Multiplication and Sum in GridView ASP.Net C#

I have a datatable which is bound to GridView datasource as follows.
Overall i want to Multiply 'Quantity' column value with 'Part1 qty' column value until 'column5' cell value is repeating and so on
the result of operation should appear underneath the value as highlighted in red for understanding
My GridView data currently
I want the following output
Required Output
My GridMarkup
My GridMarkup
What I have done so far is
protected void GridView1_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int gridViewCellCount = GridView1.Rows[0].Cells.Count;
string[] columnNames = new string[gridViewCellCount];
for (int k = 0; k < gridViewCellCount; k++)
{
columnNames[k] = ((System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataControlFieldCell)(GridView1.Rows[0].Cells[k])).ContainingField.HeaderText;
}
for (int i = GridView1.Rows.Count - 1; i > 0; i--)
{
GridViewRow row = GridView1.Rows[i];
GridViewRow previousRow = GridView1.Rows[i - 1];
var result = Array.FindIndex(columnNames, element => element.EndsWith("QTY"));
var Arraymax=columnNames.Max();
int maxIndex = columnNames.ToList().IndexOf(Arraymax);
decimal MultiplicationResult=0;
int counter = 0;
for (int j = 8; j < row.Cells.Count; j++)
{
if (row.Cells[j].Text == previousRow.Cells[j].Text)
{
counter++;
if (row.Cells[j].Text != " " && result < maxIndex)
{
var Quantity = GridView1.Rows[i].Cells[1].Text;
var GLQuantity = GridView1.Rows[i].Cells[result].Text;
var PreviousQuantity= GridView1.Rows[i-1].Cells[1].Text;
var PreviousGLQuantity= GridView1.Rows[i-1].Cells[result].Text;
//var Quantity = dt.Rows[i].ItemArray[1];
//var GLQuantity = dt.Rows[i].ItemArray[Convert.ToInt64(result)].ToString();
var GLQ = GLQuantity.TrimEnd(new Char[] { '0' });
var PGLQ = PreviousGLQuantity.TrimEnd(new char[] { '0' });
if (GLQ == "")
{
GLQ = 0.ToString();
}
if (PGLQ == "")
{
PGLQ = 0.ToString();
}
MultiplicationResult = Convert.ToDecimal(Quantity) * Convert.ToDecimal(GLQ) + Convert.ToDecimal(PreviousQuantity) * Convert.ToDecimal(PGLQ);
object o = dt.Rows[i].ItemArray[j] + " " + MultiplicationResult.ToString();
GridView1.Rows[i].Cells[j].Text = o.ToString();
GridView1.Rows[i].Cells[j].Text.Replace("\n", "<br/>");
result++;
}
else
result++;
if (previousRow.Cells[j].RowSpan == 0)
{
if (row.Cells[j].RowSpan == 0)
{
previousRow.Cells[j].RowSpan += 2;
}
else
{
previousRow.Cells[j].RowSpan = row.Cells[j].RowSpan + 1;
}
row.Cells[j].Visible = false;
}
}
else
result++;
}
}
}
Thanks in advance.

We can use below Answer
protected void GridView1_DataBound(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int gridViewCellCount = GridView1.Rows[0].Cells.Count;
string[] columnNames = new string[gridViewCellCount];
for (int k = 0; k < gridViewCellCount; k++)
{
columnNames[k] = ((System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataControlFieldCell)(GridView1.Rows[0].Cells[k])).ContainingField.HeaderText;
}
for (int i = GridView1.Rows.Count - 1; i > 0; i--)
{
GridViewRow row = GridView1.Rows[i];
GridViewRow previousRow = GridView1.Rows[i - 1];
var result = Array.FindIndex(columnNames, element => element.EndsWith("QTY"));
var Arraymax = columnNames.Max();
int maxIndex = columnNames.ToList().IndexOf(Arraymax);
decimal MultiplicationResult = 0;
decimal currentCellResult = 0;
for (int j = 8; j < row.Cells.Count; j++)
{
var defaultvalue = row.Cells[j].Text.ToString();
var defaultvalueArray = defaultvalue.Split(' ');
var originalMultiplicationResult = defaultvalueArray.Count() == 2 ? defaultvalueArray.Last() : "0";
var originalCellValue = defaultvalueArray.Count() == 2 ? defaultvalueArray.First() : row.Cells[j].Text.ToString();
if (originalCellValue == previousRow.Cells[j].Text)
{
if (row.Cells[j].Text != " " && result < maxIndex)
{
var Quantity = GridView1.Rows[i].Cells[1].Text;
var GLQuantity = GridView1.Rows[i].Cells[result].Text;
var PreviousQuantity = GridView1.Rows[i - 1].Cells[1].Text;
var PreviousGLQuantity = GridView1.Rows[i - 1].Cells[result].Text;
var GLQ = GLQuantity.TrimEnd(new Char[] { '0' });
var PGLQ = PreviousGLQuantity.TrimEnd(new char[] { '0' });
if (GLQ == "")
{
GLQ = 0.ToString();
}
if (PGLQ == "")
{
PGLQ = 0.ToString();
}
currentCellResult = Convert.ToDecimal(Quantity) * Convert.ToDecimal(GLQ);
MultiplicationResult = currentCellResult + Convert.ToDecimal(PreviousQuantity) * Convert.ToDecimal(PGLQ);
if (row.Cells[j].RowSpan == 0)
{
//DataTable dt = (DataTable)ViewState["dt"];
object o = dt.Rows[i].ItemArray[j] + " " + MultiplicationResult.ToString();
previousRow.Cells[j].Text = o.ToString();
//previousRow.Cells[j].Text = previousRow.Cells[j].Text.Split("");
}
else
{
//DataTable dt = (DataTable)ViewState["dt"];
var t = Convert.ToDecimal(originalMultiplicationResult) - Convert.ToDecimal(currentCellResult) + MultiplicationResult;
object o = dt.Rows[i].ItemArray[j] + " " + t.ToString();
previousRow.Cells[j].Text = o.ToString();
//previousRow.Cells[j].Text.Replace("\n", "<br>");
}
result++;
}
else
result++;
if (previousRow.Cells[j].RowSpan == 0)
{
if (row.Cells[j].RowSpan == 0)
{
previousRow.Cells[j].RowSpan += 2;
}
else
{
previousRow.Cells[j].RowSpan = row.Cells[j].RowSpan + 1;
}
row.Cells[j].Visible = false;
}
}
else
result++;
}
}
}

how to get specific colums from datagridview to listbox

im trying to get 3 columns instead of 15 to listbox, how do i do that?
this is the code which gets all columns.
private void testlist()
{
string[,] Datavalue = new string[dataGridView1.Rows.Count, dataGridView1.Columns.Count];
foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dataGridView1.Rows)
{
foreach (DataGridViewColumn col in dataGridView1.Columns)
{
Datavalue[row.Index, col.Index] = dataGridView1.Rows[row.Index].Cells[col.Index].Value.ToString();
}
}
int i = 1;
string strval = "";
foreach (string ss in Datavalue)
{
strval += ss + " ";
if (i == 15)
{
listBox1.Items.Add(strval);
strval = "";
i = 0;
}
i++;
}
}

private void testlist()
{
string[,] Datavalue = new string[dataGridView1.Rows.Count, 3];
foreach (DataGridViewRow row in dataGridView1.Rows)
{
Datavalue[row.Index, 0] =
dataGridView1.Rows[row.Index].Cells[1].Value.ToString();
Datavalue[row.Index, 1] =
dataGridView1.Rows[row.Index].Cells[2].Value.ToString();
Datavalue[row.Index, 2] =
dataGridView1.Rows[row.Index].Cells[14].Value.ToString();
}
int i = 1;
string strval = "";
foreach (string ss in Datavalue)
{
strval += ss + " ";
if (i == 3)
{
listBox1.Items.Add(strval);
strval = "";
i = 0;
}
i++;
}
}

Extract Field Names and max lengths from a text file using C#

I have a file that is a SQL Server result set saved as a text file.
Here is a sample of what the file looks like:
RWS_DMP_ID RV1_DMP_NUM CUS_NAME
3192 3957 THE ACME COMPANY
3192 3957 THE ACME COMPANY
3192 3957 THE ACME COMPANY
I want to create a C# program that reads this file and creates the following table of data:
Field MaxSize
----- -------
RWS_DMP_ID 17
RV1_DMP_NUM 17
CUS_NAME 42
This is a list of the field names and their max length. The max length is the beginning of the field to the space right before the beginning of the next field.
By the way I don't care about code performance. This is seldom used file processing utility.
I solved this with the following code:
objFile = new StreamReader(strPath + strFileName);
strLine = objFile.ReadLine();
intLineCnt = 0;
while (strLine != null)
{
intLineCnt++;
if (intLineCnt <= 3)
{
if (intLineCnt == 1)
{
strWords = SplitWords(strLine);
intNumberOfFields = strWords.Length;
foreach (char c in strLine)
{
if (bolNewField == true)
{
bolFieldEnd = false;
bolNewField = false;
}
if (bolFieldEnd == false)
{
if (c == ' ')
{
bolFieldEnd = true;
}
}
else
{
if (c != ' ')
{
if (intFieldCnt < strWords.Length)
{
strProcessedData[intFieldCnt, 0] = strWords[intFieldCnt];
strProcessedData[intFieldCnt, 1] = (intCharCnt - 1).ToString();
}
intFieldCnt++;
intCharCnt = 1;
bolNewField = true;
}
}
if (bolNewField == false)
{
intCharCnt++;
}
}
strProcessedData[intFieldCnt, 0] = strWords[intFieldCnt];
strProcessedData[intFieldCnt, 1] = intCharCnt.ToString();
}
else if (intLineCnt == 3)
{
intLine2Cnt= 0;
intTotalLength = 0;
while(intLine2Cnt < intNumberOfFields)
{
intSize = Convert.ToInt32(strProcessedData[intLine2Cnt, 1]);
if (intSize + intTotalLength > strLine.Length)
{
intSize = strLine.Length - intTotalLength;
}
strField = strLine.Substring(intTotalLength, intSize);
strField = strField.Trim();
strProcessedData[intLine2Cnt, intLineCnt - 1] = strField;
intTotalLength = intTotalLength + intSize + 1;
intLine2Cnt++;
}
}
}
strLine = objFile.ReadLine();
}`enter code here`
I'm aware that this code is a complete hack job. I'm looking for a better way to solve this problem.
Is there a better way to solve this problem?
THanks

I'm not sure how memory efficient this is, but I think it's a bit cleaner (assuming your fields are tab-delimited):
var COL_DELIMITER = new[] { '\t' };
string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(strPath + strFileName);
// read the field names from the first line
var fields = lines[0].Split(COL_DELIMITER, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).ToList();
// get a 2-D array of the columns (excluding the header row)
string[][] columnsArray = lines.Skip(1).Select(l => l.Split(COL_DELIMITER)).ToArray();
// dictionary of columns with max length
var max = new Dictionary<string, int>();
// for each field, select all columns, and take the max string length
foreach (var field in fields)
{
max.Add(field, columnsArray.Select(row => row[fields.IndexOf(field)]).Max(col => col.Trim().Length));
}
// output per requirment
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(Environment.NewLine,
max.Keys.Select(field => field + " " + max[field])
));

void MaximumWidth(StreamReader reader)
{
string[] columns = null;
int[] maxWidth = null;
string line;
while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
string[] cols = line.Split('\t');
if (columns == null)
{
columns = cols;
maxWidth = new int[cols.Length];
}
else
{
for (int i = 0; i < columns.Length; i++)
{
int width = cols[i].Length;
if (maxWidth[i] < width)
{
maxWidth[i] = width;
}
}
}
}
// ...
}

Here is what I came up with. The big takeaway is to use the IndexOf string function.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
String strFilePath;
String strLine;
Int32 intMaxLineSize;
strFilePath = [File path and name];
StreamReader objFile= null;
objFile = new StreamReader(strFilePath);
intMaxLineSize = File.ReadAllLines(strFilePath).Max(line => line.Length);
//Get the first line
strLine = objFile.ReadLine();
GetFieldNameAndFieldLengh(strLine, intMaxLineSize);
Console.WriteLine("Press <enter> to continue.");
Console.ReadLine();
}
public static void GetFieldNameAndFieldLengh(String strLine, Int32 intMaxSize)
{
Int32 x;
string[] fields = null;
string[,] strFieldSizes = null;
Int32 intFieldSize;
fields = SplitWords(strLine);
strFieldSizes = new String[fields.Length, 2];
x = 0;
foreach (string strField in fields)
{
if (x < fields.Length - 1)
{
intFieldSize = strLine.IndexOf(fields[x + 1]) - strLine.IndexOf(fields[x]);
}
else
{
intFieldSize = intMaxSize - strLine.IndexOf(fields[x]);
}
strFieldSizes[x, 0] = fields[x];
strFieldSizes[x, 1] = intFieldSize.ToString();
x++;
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
static string[] SplitWords(string s)
{
return Regex.Split(s, #"\W+");
}
}

How to convert a DataTable to a string in C#?

I'm using Visual Studio 2005 and have a DataTable with two columns and some rows that I want to output to the console. I hoped there would be something like:
DataTable results = MyMethod.GetResults();
Console.WriteLine (results.ToString());
What's the best way (i.e. least amount of coding from me) to convert a simple DataTable to a string?

Prerequisite
using System.Linq;
then ...
string res = string.Join(Environment.NewLine,
results.Rows.OfType<DataRow>().Select(x => string.Join(" ; ", x.ItemArray)));

Late but this is what I use
public static string ConvertDataTableToString(DataTable dataTable)
{
var output = new StringBuilder();
var columnsWidths = new int[dataTable.Columns.Count];
// Get column widths
foreach (DataRow row in dataTable.Rows)
{
for(int i = 0; i < dataTable.Columns.Count; i++)
{
var length = row[i].ToString().Length;
if (columnsWidths[i] < length)
columnsWidths[i] = length;
}
}
// Get Column Titles
for (int i = 0; i < dataTable.Columns.Count; i++)
{
var length = dataTable.Columns[i].ColumnName.Length;
if (columnsWidths[i] < length)
columnsWidths[i] = length;
}
// Write Column titles
for (int i = 0; i < dataTable.Columns.Count; i++)
{
var text = dataTable.Columns[i].ColumnName;
output.Append("|" + PadCenter(text, columnsWidths[i] + 2));
}
output.Append("|\n" + new string('=', output.Length) + "\n");
// Write Rows
foreach (DataRow row in dataTable.Rows)
{
for (int i = 0; i < dataTable.Columns.Count; i++)
{
var text = row[i].ToString();
output.Append("|" + PadCenter(text,columnsWidths[i] + 2));
}
output.Append("|\n");
}
return output.ToString();
}
private static string PadCenter(string text, int maxLength)
{
int diff = maxLength - text.Length;
return new string(' ', diff/2) + text + new string(' ', (int) (diff / 2.0 + 0.5));
}

using(var writer = new StringWriter()) {
results.WriteXml(writer);
Console.WriteLine(writer.ToString());
}
Of course the usefulness of this depends on how important the formatting is. If it's just a debug dump, I find XML outputs like this very readable. However, if the formatting is important to you, then you have no choice but to write your own method to do it.

You could use something like this:
Private Sub PrintTableOrView(ByVal table As DataTable, ByVal label As String)
Dim sw As System.IO.StringWriter
Dim output As String
Console.WriteLine(label)
' Loop through each row in the table. '
For Each row As DataRow In table.Rows
sw = New System.IO.StringWriter
' Loop through each column. '
For Each col As DataColumn In table.Columns
' Output the value of each column's data.
sw.Write(row(col).ToString() & ", ")
Next
output = sw.ToString
' Trim off the trailing ", ", so the output looks correct. '
If output.Length > 2 Then
output = output.Substring(0, output.Length - 2)
End If
' Display the row in the console window. '
Console.WriteLine(output)
Next
Console.WriteLine()
End Sub

i know i'm years late xD but Here's how i did it
public static string convertDataTableToString(DataTable dataTable)
{
string data = string.Empty;
for (int i = 0; i < dataTable.Rows.Count; i++)
{
DataRow row = dataTable.Rows[i];
for (int j = 0; j < dataTable.Columns.Count; j++)
{
data += dataTable.Columns[j].ColumnName + "~" + row[j];
if (j == dataTable.Columns.Count - 1)
{
if (i != (dataTable.Rows.Count - 1))
data += "$";
}
else
data += "|";
}
}
return data;
}
If someone ever optimizes this please let me know
i tried this :
public static string convertDataTableToString(DataTable dataTable)
{
string data = string.Empty;
int rowsCount = dataTable.Rows.Count;
for (int i = 0; i < rowsCount; i++)
{
DataRow row = dataTable.Rows[i];
int columnsCount = dataTable.Columns.Count;
for (int j = 0; j < columnsCount; j++)
{
data += dataTable.Columns[j].ColumnName + "~" + row[j];
if (j == columnsCount - 1)
{
if (i != (rowsCount - 1))
data += "$";
}
else
data += "|";
}
}
return data;
}
but this answer says it's worse

I would install PowerShell. It understands .NET objects and has an Format-Table and Export-Csv that would do exactly what you are looking for. If you do any sort of console work it is a great complement/replacement to C# console apps.
When I started using it, I rewrote my console apps as libraries and import the libraries into Powershell. The built-in commandlets make console work so nice.

two for loops, one for rows, another for columns, output dataRow(i).Value.
Watch out for nulls and DbNulls.

/// <summary>
/// Dumps the passed DataSet obj for debugging as list of html tables
/// </summary>
/// <param name="msg"> the msg attached </param>
/// <param name="ds"> the DataSet object passed for Dumping </param>
/// <returns> the nice looking dump of the DataSet obj in html format</returns>
public static string DumpHtmlDs(string msg, ref System.Data.DataSet ds)
{
StringBuilder objStringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("<html><body>");
if (ds == null)
{
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("Null dataset passed ");
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("</html></body>");
WriteIf(objStringBuilder.ToString());
return objStringBuilder.ToString();
}
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("<p>" + msg + " START </p>");
if (ds != null)
{
if (ds.Tables == null)
{
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("ds.Tables == null ");
return objStringBuilder.ToString();
}
foreach (System.Data.DataTable dt in ds.Tables)
{
if (dt == null)
{
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("ds.Tables == null ");
continue;
}
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("<table>");
//objStringBuilder.AppendLine("================= My TableName is " +
//dt.TableName + " ========================= START");
int colNumberInRow = 0;
objStringBuilder.Append("<tr><th>row number</th>");
foreach (System.Data.DataColumn dc in dt.Columns)
{
if (dc == null)
{
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("DataColumn is null ");
continue;
}
objStringBuilder.Append(" <th> |" + colNumberInRow.ToString() + " | ");
objStringBuilder.Append( dc.ColumnName.ToString() + " </th> ");
colNumberInRow++;
} //eof foreach (DataColumn dc in dt.Columns)
objStringBuilder.Append("</tr>");
int rowNum = 0;
foreach (System.Data.DataRow dr in dt.Rows)
{
objStringBuilder.Append("<tr><td> row - | " + rowNum.ToString() + " | </td>");
int colNumber = 0;
foreach (System.Data.DataColumn dc in dt.Columns)
{
objStringBuilder.Append(" <td> |" + colNumber + "|" );
objStringBuilder.Append(dr[dc].ToString() + " </td>");
colNumber++;
} //eof foreach (DataColumn dc in dt.Columns)
rowNum++;
objStringBuilder.AppendLine(" </tr>");
} //eof foreach (DataRow dr in dt.Rows)
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("</table>");
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("<p>" + msg + " END </p>");
} //eof foreach (DataTable dt in ds.Tables)
} //eof if ds !=null
else
{
objStringBuilder.AppendLine("NULL DataSet object passed for debugging !!!");
}
return objStringBuilder.ToString();
}

public static string DataTable2String(DataTable dataTable)
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
if (dataTable != null)
{
string seperator = " | ";
#region get min length for columns
Hashtable hash = new Hashtable();
foreach (DataColumn col in dataTable.Columns)
hash[col.ColumnName] = col.ColumnName.Length;
foreach (DataRow row in dataTable.Rows)
for (int i = 0; i < row.ItemArray.Length; i++)
if (row[i] != null)
if (((string)row[i]).Length > (int)hash[dataTable.Columns[i].ColumnName])
hash[dataTable.Columns[i].ColumnName] = ((string)row[i]).Length;
int rowLength = (hash.Values.Count + 1) * seperator.Length;
foreach (object o in hash.Values)
rowLength += (int)o;
#endregion get min length for columns
sb.Append(new string('=', (rowLength - " DataTable ".Length) / 2));
sb.Append(" DataTable ");
sb.AppendLine(new string('=', (rowLength - " DataTable ".Length) / 2));
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(dataTable.TableName))
sb.AppendLine(String.Format("{0,-" + rowLength + "}", String.Format("{0," + ((rowLength + dataTable.TableName.Length) / 2).ToString() + "}", dataTable.TableName)));
#region write values
foreach (DataColumn col in dataTable.Columns)
sb.Append(seperator + String.Format("{0,-" + hash[col.ColumnName] + "}", col.ColumnName));
sb.AppendLine(seperator);
sb.AppendLine(new string('-', rowLength));
foreach (DataRow row in dataTable.Rows)
{
for (int i = 0; i < row.ItemArray.Length; i++)
{
sb.Append(seperator + String.Format("{0," + hash[dataTable.Columns[i].ColumnName] + "}", row[i]));
if (i == row.ItemArray.Length - 1)
sb.AppendLine(seperator);
}
}
#endregion write values
sb.AppendLine(new string('=', rowLength));
}
else
sb.AppendLine("================ DataTable is NULL ================");
return sb.ToString();
}
output:
======================= DataTable =======================
MyTable
| COL1 | COL2 | COL3 1000000ng name |
----------------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| abc | Dienstag, 12. März 2013 | xyz |
| Have | a nice | day! |
==========================================================

very vague ....
id bung it into a dataset simply so that i can output it easily as xml ....
failing that why not iterate through its row and column collections and output them?

Or, change the app to WinForms, use grid and bind DataTable to grid. If it is a demo/sample app.

I created my variant of class for your needs. I believe it is a bit more configurable than already provided variants.
You can use it with all default settings just create an instance of a class and call StringifyDataTable method, or you can set additional options if needed.
public class DataTableStringifier
{
public bool IsOuterBordersPresent { get; set; } //Whether outer borders of table needed
public bool IsHeaderHorizontalSeparatorPresent { get; set; } // Whether horizontal line separator between table title and data is needed. Useful to set 'false' if you expect only 1 or 2 rows of data - no need for additional lines then
public char ValueSeparator { get; set; } //Vertical line character
public char HorizontalLinePadChar { get; set; } // Horizontal line character
public char HorizontalLineSeparator { get; set; } // Horizontal border (between header and data) column separator (crossing of horizontal and vertical borders)
public int ValueMargin { get; set; } // Horizontal margin from table borders (inner and outer) to cell values
public int MaxColumnWidth { get; set; } // To avoid too wide columns with thousands of characters. Longer values will be cropped in the center
public string LongValuesEllipses { get; set; } // Cropped values wil be inserted this string in the middle to mark the point of cropping
public DataTableStringifier()
{
MaxColumnWidth = int.MaxValue;
IsHeaderHorizontalSeparatorPresent = true;
ValueSeparator = '|';
ValueMargin = 1;
HorizontalLinePadChar = '-';
HorizontalLineSeparator = '+';
LongValuesEllipses = "...";
IsOuterBordersPresent = false;
}
public string StringifyDataTable(DataTable table)
{
int colCount = table.Columns.Count;
int rowCount = table.Rows.Count;
string[] colHeaders = new string[colCount];
string[,] cells = new string[rowCount, colCount];
int[] colWidth = new int[colCount];
for (int i = 0; i < colCount; i++)
{
var column = table.Columns[i];
var colName = ValueToLimitedLengthString(column.ColumnName);
colHeaders[i] = colName;
if (colWidth[i] < colName.Length)
{
colWidth[i] = colName.Length;
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < rowCount; i++)
{
DataRow row = table.Rows[i];
for (int j = 0; j < colCount; j++)
{
var valStr = ValueToLimitedLengthString(row[j]);
cells[i, j] = valStr;
if (colWidth[j] < valStr.Length)
{
colWidth[j] = valStr.Length;
}
}
}
string valueSeparatorWithMargin = string.Concat(new string(' ', ValueMargin), ValueSeparator, new string(' ', ValueMargin));
string leftBorder = IsOuterBordersPresent ? string.Concat(ValueSeparator, new string(' ', ValueMargin)) : "";
string rightBorder = IsOuterBordersPresent ? string.Concat(new string(' ', ValueMargin), ValueSeparator) : "";
string horizLine = new string(HorizontalLinePadChar, colWidth.Sum() + (colCount - 1)*(ValueMargin*2 + 1) + (IsOuterBordersPresent ? (ValueMargin + 1)*2 : 0));
StringBuilder tableBuilder = new StringBuilder();
if (IsOuterBordersPresent)
{
tableBuilder.AppendLine(horizLine);
}
tableBuilder.Append(leftBorder);
for (int i = 0; i < colCount; i++)
{
tableBuilder.Append(colHeaders[i].PadRight(colWidth[i]));
if (i < colCount - 1)
{
tableBuilder.Append(valueSeparatorWithMargin);
}
}
tableBuilder.AppendLine(rightBorder);
if (IsHeaderHorizontalSeparatorPresent)
{
if (IsOuterBordersPresent)
{
tableBuilder.Append(ValueSeparator);
tableBuilder.Append(HorizontalLinePadChar, ValueMargin);
}
for (int i = 0; i < colCount; i++)
{
tableBuilder.Append(new string(HorizontalLinePadChar, colWidth[i]));
if (i < colCount - 1)
{
tableBuilder.Append(HorizontalLinePadChar, ValueMargin);
tableBuilder.Append(HorizontalLineSeparator);
tableBuilder.Append(HorizontalLinePadChar, ValueMargin);
}
}
if (IsOuterBordersPresent)
{
tableBuilder.Append(HorizontalLinePadChar, ValueMargin);
tableBuilder.Append(ValueSeparator);
}
tableBuilder.AppendLine();
}
for (int i = 0; i < rowCount; i++)
{
tableBuilder.Append(leftBorder);
for(int j=0; j<colCount; j++)
{
tableBuilder.Append(cells[i, j].PadRight(colWidth[j]));
if(j<colCount-1)
{
tableBuilder.Append(valueSeparatorWithMargin);
}
}
tableBuilder.AppendLine(rightBorder);
}
if (IsOuterBordersPresent)
{
tableBuilder.AppendLine(horizLine);
}
return tableBuilder.ToString(0, tableBuilder.Length - 1); //Trim last enter char
}
private string ValueToLimitedLengthString(object value)
{
string strValue = value.ToString();
if (strValue.Length > MaxColumnWidth)
{
int beginningLength = (MaxColumnWidth) / 2;
int endingLength = (MaxColumnWidth + 1) / 2 - LongValuesEllipses.Length;
return string.Concat(strValue.Substring(0, beginningLength), LongValuesEllipses, strValue.Substring(strValue.Length - endingLength, endingLength));
}
else
{
return strValue;
}
}
}

If you have a single column in datatable than it's simple to change datatable to string.
DataTable results = MyMethod.GetResults();
if(results != null && results.Rows.Count > 0) // Check datatable is null or not
{
List<string> lstring = new List<string>();
foreach(DataRow dataRow in dt.Rows)
{
lstring.Add(Convert.ToString(dataRow["ColumnName"]));
}
string mainresult = string.Join(",", lstring.ToArray()); // You can Use comma(,) or anything which you want. who connect the two string. You may leave space also.
}
Console.WriteLine (mainresult);