How to Export `DataTable` to CSV in C#

What Features Does the IronXL Library Offer?

Microsoft Excel documents can be read and converted to CSV files using the C# IronXL .NET library. IronXL is a standalone .NET software library that can read a variety of spreadsheet formats. It does not depend on Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel or require the installation of Microsoft Excel.

With the help of the user-friendly C# API of IronXL, you can quickly read, modify, and create Excel spreadsheet files in the .NET environment. .NET Core, .NET Framework, Xamarin, Mobile, Linux, macOS, and Azure are all fully supported by IronXL.

• Leading .NET Core and .NET Framework Excel spreadsheet libraries for C# include IronXL.
• Virtually all .NET Frameworks are supported, including Console, Windows Forms, and Web Applications.
• IronXL operates on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems.
• IronXL makes reading Excel files simple and quick.
• IronXL supports multiple Excel formats: XLSX, XLS, CSV, TSV, XLST, and XLSM files.
• IronXL exports files to various formats including XLS, CSV, TSV, JSON, and XML.
• IronXL generates Excel calculations and supports formulas.
• IronXL supports Excel column data formats including text, numbers, dates, currencies, and percentages.

For more details visit the IronXL documentation overview.

How Do I Create a New Project in Visual Studio?

In Visual Studio, a .NET project must be created before the IronXL framework can be used. Any edition of Visual Studio will work, but the most recent one is advised. Depending on your needs, you can build a Windows Forms application or different project templates. To keep things simple, this tutorial will use the Console Application.

Create a new project in Visual Studio

After that, input the project's name and location.

Configure the new project

Next, select the following structure. .NET Core 6 will be used in this project.

Select a .NET Framework version

The program.cs file will be opened after the application generates the solution so that you can enter the program code and build/run the application.

The newly created Console Application project

The library can then be added and used to evaluate the code. For other project types like .NET MAUI applications or VB.NET projects, the process is similar but with framework-specific considerations.

How Do I Install the IronXL Library?

There are four methods to download and install the IronXL Library.

Which are:

• Installing via Visual Studio
• Installing using the Visual Studio Package Manager Console
• Downloading directly from the NuGet website
• Downloading directly from the IronXL website

How Do I Export a DataTable to CSV File?

DataTables can be easily and quickly exported to CSV files using IronXL. It helps write data to new CSV files with support for custom delimiters and encoding options.

First, as shown in the code image below, the IronXL namespace should be included to use the IronXL classes and methods.

Add common namespaces

Excel files can be created using IronXL, which then transforms them into WorkBook objects. Then perform various operations on these objects. The sample code below will build an Excel file by converting a DataTable into an Excel worksheet.

using IronXL;
using System.Data;

// Entry point of the application
static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // Specify the file path for the CSV file output
    ExportToExcel("H:\\test.csv");
}

// Exports the DataTable to an Excel file and saves it as CSV
public static void ExportToExcel(string filepath)
{
    // Create a DataTable and add columns and rows
    DataTable table = new DataTable();
    table.Columns.Add("DataSet_Fruits", typeof(string));
    table.Rows.Add("Apple");
    table.Rows.Add("Orange");
    table.Rows.Add("Strawberry");
    table.Rows.Add("Grapes");
    table.Rows.Add("Watermelon");
    table.Rows.Add("Bananas");
    table.Rows.Add("Lemons");

    // Create a new WorkBook and add the DataTable data to it
    WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Create(ExcelFileFormat.XLS);
    var writer = wb.DefaultWorkSheet;
    int rowCount = 1;
    foreach (DataRow row in table.Rows)
    {
        // Write each item from the DataTable into the worksheet starting from cell A1
        writer["A" + (rowCount)].Value = row[0].ToString();
        rowCount++;
    }
    // Save the workbook as a CSV file with a specified delimiter
    wb.SaveAsCsv(filepath, ";");
}

using IronXL;
using System.Data;

// Entry point of the application
static void Main(string[] args)
{
    // Specify the file path for the CSV file output
    ExportToExcel("H:\\test.csv");
}

// Exports the DataTable to an Excel file and saves it as CSV
public static void ExportToExcel(string filepath)
{
    // Create a DataTable and add columns and rows
    DataTable table = new DataTable();
    table.Columns.Add("DataSet_Fruits", typeof(string));
    table.Rows.Add("Apple");
    table.Rows.Add("Orange");
    table.Rows.Add("Strawberry");
    table.Rows.Add("Grapes");
    table.Rows.Add("Watermelon");
    table.Rows.Add("Bananas");
    table.Rows.Add("Lemons");

    // Create a new WorkBook and add the DataTable data to it
    WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Create(ExcelFileFormat.XLS);
    var writer = wb.DefaultWorkSheet;
    int rowCount = 1;
    foreach (DataRow row in table.Rows)
    {
        // Write each item from the DataTable into the worksheet starting from cell A1
        writer["A" + (rowCount)].Value = row[0].ToString();
        rowCount++;
    }
    // Save the workbook as a CSV file with a specified delimiter
    wb.SaveAsCsv(filepath, ";");
}

The above code exports the DataTable to an Excel file. Column headings are created once a DataTable is created. Then, add the rows one at a time after establishing the first column. The WorkBook object is created after adding the columns and rows to the DataTable object to hold those data. The WorkSheet object is then constructed, which is added to the WorkBook object.

Each value from the DataTable is read and added using a foreach loop before adding the value to the WorkSheet. After all values have been added to the worksheet, the SaveAsCsv method saves them to a CSV file. You can specify both the delimiter and file location as parameters.

For more complex scenarios, you might want to export multiple DataTables as different worksheets or work with DataSets for more structured data organization.

// Export with custom delimiter and encoding
public static void ExportToCSVWithOptions(DataTable dataTable, string filepath)
{
    // Create workbook from DataTable
    WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Create(ExcelFileFormat.XLSX);
    WorkSheet ws = wb.CreateWorkSheet("DataExport");

    // Add headers
    for (int i = 0; i < dataTable.Columns.Count; i++)
    {
        ws[$"{(char)('A' + i)}1"].Value = dataTable.Columns[i].ColumnName;
    }

    // Add data rows
    for (int row = 0; row < dataTable.Rows.Count; row++)
    {
        for (int col = 0; col < dataTable.Columns.Count; col++)
        {
            ws[$"{(char)('A' + col)}{row + 2}"].Value = dataTable.Rows[row][col];
        }
    }

    // Save with custom delimiter (comma) and UTF-8 encoding
    wb.SaveAsCsv(filepath, ",", System.Text.Encoding.UTF8);
}

// Export with custom delimiter and encoding
public static void ExportToCSVWithOptions(DataTable dataTable, string filepath)
{
    // Create workbook from DataTable
    WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Create(ExcelFileFormat.XLSX);
    WorkSheet ws = wb.CreateWorkSheet("DataExport");

    // Add headers
    for (int i = 0; i < dataTable.Columns.Count; i++)
    {
        ws[$"{(char)('A' + i)}1"].Value = dataTable.Columns[i].ColumnName;
    }

    // Add data rows
    for (int row = 0; row < dataTable.Rows.Count; row++)
    {
        for (int col = 0; col < dataTable.Columns.Count; col++)
        {
            ws[$"{(char)('A' + col)}{row + 2}"].Value = dataTable.Rows[row][col];
        }
    }

    // Save with custom delimiter (comma) and UTF-8 encoding
    wb.SaveAsCsv(filepath, ",", System.Text.Encoding.UTF8);
}

Why Should I Use IronXL for CSV Export?

One of the most popular Excel tools is IronXL. It doesn't rely on any other libraries from outside sources. It is autonomous and does not require the installation of Microsoft Excel. It operates across numerous channels.

IronXL provides an all-in-one solution for all Microsoft Excel document-related tasks to be implemented programmatically. You can perform formula calculation, string or number sorting, trimming and appending, find and replace, merge and unmerge, save files etc. You can also set cell data formats along with validate spreadsheet data. It also supports reading and writing CSV files and helps you to work like Excel data.

Additional benefits include:

• Password protection for sensitive data exports
• Performance optimization for large datasets
• Support for conditional formatting in Excel before CSV export
• Named ranges and named tables support
• Hyperlink preservation in supported formats

IronXL's starting price at launch is $799. It also offers users the choice of paying a one-year subscription fee for product assistance and updates. For an additional fee, IronXL offers security for unrestricted redistribution. To research greater approximate pricing information, please visit this licensing page.