Code Tips (.Net)

Import into Excel using CSV File having Unicode Data Options

FengLiN — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:17:00 GMT

I am facing a small prblem with Excel and Unicode Data. I am writing data into a CSV file from the database with VB.NET using a Stream Writer object with UTF8 Encoding. This data is Unicode data with Chinese characters with UTF8 encoding. When I open it in Excel (office XP) it does not show the Chinese characters properly, they are converted into ASCII Characters.

Export CSV with unicode content

FengLiN — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:49:00 GMT

You've got an encoding issue. The default encoding for StreamWriter is UTF8NoBOM. That encoding should properly encode Unicode characters. Your problem is likely located in the app you use to read the file. Maybe you can egg it into interpreting the file properly if it contains a BOM (byte order mark). Construct it like this:

new System.IO.StreamWriter(fileName, Encoding.UTF8);