[RESOLVED] TextFieldParser ReadFields call by name instead of position

[lleemon]

Is it possible to use TextFieldParser and call .ReadFields and then use field name instead of field position?

For example, I have 40 columns in my .csv file.
field 0 = ID
field 1 = brand
field 2 = model
field 3 = price
field 4 = color
field 5 = something else.....

How the data would appear in the file:
ID,brand,model,price,color,somethingelse
1,Samsung,Galaxy S,200,black,xx
2,Samsung,Galaxy S II,300,black,xy
3,Samsung,Galaxy S III,500,black,xy
4,Samsung,Galaxy S III,500,white,xy

Right now I am calling the array like so CurrentRecord(4) which returns the color field value.

Can I call it like so, CurrentRecord("color") which would return the same value?

Dim afile As FileIO.TextFieldParser = New FileIO.TextFieldParser(sFullPath)
            Dim CurrentRecord As String() ' this array will hold each line of data
            afile.TextFieldType = FileIO.FieldType.Delimited
            afile.Delimiters = New String() {","}
            afile.HasFieldsEnclosedInQuotes = True
            
            ' parse the actual file
            Dim iRow As Integer = 1
         
            Do While Not afile.EndOfData
                Try
                    CurrentRecord = afile.ReadFields

                    If iRow = 1 Then
                        'headers
                    Else
                        
                        If CurrentRecord(39).Trim.Length > 0 Then
                            Dim sRetVal As String = InsertUpdateDB(CurrentRecord(0), CurrentRecord(19), CurrentRecord(20), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(21), CurrentRecord(21), CurrentRecord(22), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(23), CurrentRecord(24), CurrentRecord(25), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(26), CurrentRecord(27), CurrentRecord(28), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(29), CurrentRecord(30), CurrentRecord(31), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(32), CurrentRecord(33), CurrentRecord(34), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(35), CurrentRecord(36), CurrentRecord(37), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(38), CurrentRecord(39))

                        Else
                            Dim sRetVal As String = InsertUpdateDB(CurrentRecord(0), CurrentRecord(19), CurrentRecord(20), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(21), CurrentRecord(21), CurrentRecord(22), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(23), CurrentRecord(24), CurrentRecord(25), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(26), CurrentRecord(27), CurrentRecord(28), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(29), CurrentRecord(30), CurrentRecord(31), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(32), CurrentRecord(33), CurrentRecord(34), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(35), CurrentRecord(36), CurrentRecord(37), _
                                                      CurrentRecord(38), 0)

                        End If
                    End If

                Catch ex As FileIO.MalformedLineException
                    ltlOutput.Text &= "<br />" & ex.ToString
                    Stop
                End Try
                iRow += 1
            Loop

[danasegarane]

The answer is No. As the .ReadFields returns the values in an array, you can read the values using the Index value.

Use LINQ

'Imports System.Linq
 Dim lstLines = From line As String In System.IO.File.ReadAllLines("C:\test.txt") Skip 1 _
                       Let L = line.Split(",".ToCharArray()) _
                       Select New Mobile() With {.ID = L(0), .brand = L(1), .model = L(2), .price = L(3), .color = L(4), .somethingelse = L(5)}


        For Each M As Mobile In lstLines
            'Read the Lines by one one
            MessageBox.Show(M.ID)
        Next

[lleemon]

danasegarane, thanks for the info. Very good stuff. I was hoping for a solution where I don't need to know the position of data so if say the source comes in without a few fields (which is ok) I can still read most of the data based on field/header names.