Use Encoding.UTF8 to ensure special characters (like currency symbols or accents) are preserved.
// Example using CsvHelper using (var writer = new StreamWriter("path\\to\\file.csv")) using (var csv = new CsvWriter(writer, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)) using (var dtReader = dt.CreateDataReader()) csv.WriteRecords(dtReader); Use code with caution.
If you need a more robust solution that handles complex edge cases automatically, the library (available via NuGet) is the industry standard. Use Encoding
using System; using System.Data; using System.IO; using System.Text; using System.Windows.Forms; public void ExportToCSV(DataTable dt, string filePath) StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(); // Create the header row string[] columnNames = new string[dt.Columns.Count]; for (int i = 0; i < dt.Columns.Count; i++) columnNames[i] = dt.Columns[i].ColumnName; sb.AppendLine(string.Join(",", columnNames)); // Create the data rows foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows) string[] fields = new string[dt.Columns.Count]; for (int i = 0; i < dt.Columns.Count; i++) // Handle commas within the data by wrapping in quotes fields[i] = "\"" + row[i].ToString().Replace("\"", "\"\"") + "\""; sb.AppendLine(string.Join(",", fields)); File.WriteAllText(filePath, sb.ToString(), Encoding.UTF8); Use code with caution. 2. Implementing the SaveFileDialog
If the data itself contains a double quote, escape it by using two double quotes ( "" ). using System; using System
Below is a comprehensive guide on how to implement a "Save As" feature to export a DataTable to a CSV file in a C# Windows application. 1. Setting Up the Export Method
For extremely large datasets (100,000+ rows), use StreamWriter instead of StringBuilder to write data directly to the disk and save RAM. 4. Alternative: Using CsvHelper Setting Up the Export Method For extremely large
When exporting data to CSV, keep these best practices in mind to ensure data integrity: