How to read from database and write into text file with C#?

Question

How to read from database and write into text file?

I want to write/copy (not sure what to call) the record inside my database into a text file. One row record in database is equal to one line in the text file. I'm having no problem in database.

For creating text file, it mentions FileStream and StreamWriter. Which one should I use?

Answer 1

You are trying to address some basic areas with this question. First try to get familiar your self with some google searches. For this topics there are millions of resources available. However I am adding some links to your questions that contain the code snippets.

Reading a database

Text file operations

Answer 2

Here's a very simple routine using the DataSet class to write the data you retrieved from your database to an XML file:

DataSet dsMyData = FunctionToGetDataSet("My SQL string");

if(dsMyData.Tables.Count > 0)
{
    dsMyData.WriteXml("C:\Path\To\Your\Data\File.xml");
}

You can read the data you stored in the XML file like this:

dsMyData.ReadXml("C:\Path\To\Your\Data\File.xml");

There are other ways, but this is short and sweet and might point you in the right direction. Good luck!

Answer 3

If you are going to create a new file or overwrite/replace an existing file, you can use:

System.IO.StreamWriter writer = System.IO.File.CreateText(filename);

If you are going to append to an existing file, use:

System.IO.StreamWriter writer = System.IO.File.AppendText(filename);

Write a line to the file like this:

writer.WriteLine(theLineOfTextFromYourDatabase);

When finished, remeber to close the file:

writer.Close();

Answer 4

You could write the data out two ways. The first would be to use Dataset.WriteXMl which would write out the entire dataset to disk. If you are looking for just text and no tags then StreamWriter is the best way forward. You would do something like this:

outputFS= new FileStream(filepath, FileMode.Create);
outputwriter = new StreamWriter(outputFS);
string totalString = "";

DataRow row = dt.Rows[dt.Rows.Count - 1];    
foreach (DataColumn col in row.Table.Columns)
{
    //Append each item to the string.
}

outputwriter .WriteLine(totalString);