Question

I have an .EDF (text) file. The file’s contents are as follows:

    ConfigFile.Sample, Software v0.32, CP Version 0.32
    [123_Float][2]
    [127_Number][0]
    [039_Code][70]

I wnat to read these items and parse them like this:

    123_Float - 2
    127_Number - 0
    039_Code - 70

How can I do this using C#?

Answer 1

Well, you might start with the File.ReadAllLines() method. Then, iterate through the lines in that file, checking to see if they match a pattern. If they do, extract the necessary text and do whatever you want with it.

Here’s an example that assumes you want lines in the format [(field 1)][(field 2)]:

// Or wherever your file is located
string path = @"C:\MyFile.edf";

// Pattern to check each line
Regex pattern = new Regex(@"\[([^\]]*?)\]");

// Read in lines
string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(path);

// Iterate through lines
foreach (string line in lines)
{
   // Check if line matches your format here
   var matches = pattern.Matches(line);

   if (matches.Count == 2)
   {
      string value1 = matches[0].Groups[1].Value;
      string value2 = matches[1].Groups[1].Value;

      Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0} - {1}", value1, value2));
   }
}

This outputs them to the console window, but you could obviously do whatever you want with value1 and value2 (write them to another file, store them in a data structure, etc).

Also, please note that regular expressions are not my strong point — there’s probably a much more elegant way to check if a line matches your pattern 🙂

If you want more info, check out MSDN’s article on reading data from a text file as a starting point.