Visual Basic and SQL Server – Importing Data
In order to import data into an SQL Server database, it must be in a suitable format. CSV files are one such format. A CSV file, or Comma Separated Values file, is a delimited file that uses commas to separate values. They store tabular data in plain text. The first row in a CSV file often contains headers for each column of data. Each row in the file thereafter is a record of related data. In the example contents of a CSV file below, each row contains information relating to a person, including their first name, last name, title and date of birth in the format YYYY-MM-DD (four digit year, two digit month and two digit day).
"firstname","lastname","title","dob" "Zoe","Davis","Miss","1979-07-11" "Tom","Ingram","Mr","1971-10-04" "Karen","Thomas","Mrs","1969-03-08" "Samantha","Yates","Miss","1995-08-27"
Below is an example of how Visual Basic can be used to import data from a CSV file called ‘personimport.csv’, into a table called ‘person’, which was used in the examples for selecting, inserting, updating and deleting data.
Firstly, the file path is set and a check is made to see if the CSV file actually exists. If it does, it gets assigned to a ‘reader’ object and the rows of data under the headers are processed one by one, using a ‘While’ loop. For each row of data, an ‘Insert‘ statement is constructed and stored in a list. A connection to the database is then established and a ‘For Each’ loop is used to extract the ‘Insert‘ statements from the list and execute them. Feedback is given as to the number of records added.
Note that, as well as an ‘Imports‘ statement for ‘System.Data.SqlClient’, there must also be one for ‘System.IO’ in order for this to work.
' File path. Dim filePath As String = "C:\demo\personimport.csv" ' Data variables. Dim currentRow As String() Dim headers As Boolean = True Dim sqlPersonInfo As String = "" Dim sqlPersonInfoList As New List(Of String)() Dim recordCount As Integer = 0 ' Check if the CSV file exists. If Not File.Exists(filePath) Then ' Message stating CSV file could not be located. Console.WriteLine("Could not locate the CSV file.") ' Stop program execution. End End If ' Assign the CSV file to a reader object. Using reader As New Microsoft.VisualBasic. FileIO.TextFieldParser(filePath) ' Specify the delimiter. reader.TextFieldType = FileIO.FieldType.Delimited reader.SetDelimiters(",") ' Process the contents of the reader object. While Not reader.EndOfData Try ' Retrieve a row of data from the reader object. currentRow = reader.ReadFields() ' Check for correct column headers if first row. If headers = True Then If currentRow(0) <> "firstname" Or currentRow(1) <> "lastname" Or currentRow(2) <> "title" Or currentRow(3) <> "dob" Then ' Message stating incorrect CSV file headers. Console.WriteLine("Incorrect CSV file headers.") ' Stop program execution. End Else headers = False End If Else ' Construct the insert statement. sqlPersonInfo = "INSERT INTO person " sqlPersonInfo += "(firstname, lastname, title, dob) " sqlPersonInfo += "VALUES ('" & currentRow(0) & "', " sqlPersonInfo += "'" & currentRow(1) & "', " sqlPersonInfo += "'" & currentRow(2) & "', " sqlPersonInfo += "'" & currentRow(3) & "')" ' Add the insert statement to the list. sqlPersonInfoList.Add(sqlPersonInfo) End If Catch ex As Microsoft.VisualBasic. FileIO.MalformedLineException ' Confirm error reading CSV file and exit. Console.WriteLine("Error reading CSV file.") End End Try End While ' Close the reader object. reader.Close() End Using ' Database connection variable. Dim connect = New SqlConnection( "Server=localhost\MSSQLSERVERDEMO; Database=Demo;" & "User Id=DemoUN; Password=DemoPW") Try ' Connect to database. connect.Open() Catch ex As Exception ' Confirm unsuccessful connection and stop program execution. Console.WriteLine("Database connection unsuccessful.") End End Try Try ' Insert the person information from the list. For Each personSQL As String In sqlPersonInfoList ' Define and execute the SQL command. Dim sqlInsert As New SqlCommand(personSQL, connect) sqlInsert.ExecuteNonQuery() ' Increment the record count. recordCount += 1 Next ' Provide feedback on the number of records added. If recordCount = 0 Then Console.WriteLine("No new person records added.") ElseIf recordCount = 1 Then Console.WriteLine(recordCount & " person record added.") Else Console.WriteLine(recordCount & " person records added.") End If Catch ex As Exception ' Confirm error adding person information and exit. Console.WriteLine("Error adding person information.") End Finally ' Close the database connection. connect.Close() End Try
The contents of the ‘person’ table now looks as follows.
id | firstname | lastname | title | dob |
1 | Bob | Smith | Mr | 1980-01-20 |
3 | Fred | Bloggs | Mr | 1975-05-07 |
4 | Alan | White | Mr | 1989-03-20 |
5 | Fiona | Bloggs | Mrs | 1985-05-19 |
6 | Zoe | Davis | Miss | 1979-07-11 |
7 | Tom | Ingram | Mr | 1971-10-04 |
8 | Karen | Thomas | Mrs | 1969-03-08 |
9 | Samantha | Yates | Miss | 1995-08-27 |