Calculate Total Sums from CSV in VB.NET 📊

A step-by-step guide on how to read, sum, and group values from a CSV file using `VB.NET` to generate a new structured output.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/64644648/ asked by the user 'Иван Олександров' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/11940865/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/64652027/ provided by the user 'dr.null' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/14171304/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Calculate Total Sums from a CSV File Using VB.NET

CSV files are commonly used to store data in a tabular format, but frequently users encounter challenges when they need to manipulate and analyze the data. One common task is to compute totals from a CSV file. If you're working with VB.NET, you may have found yourself needing to read a CSV file, calculate sums for specific columns, and output the result in a new CSV file. In this article, I'll guide you through the process of achieving that.

The Problem

Imagine you have a CSV file that looks like this:

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You need to sum the values in the second and third columns for each unique value in the first column, and present the results in a new CSV format:

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The Solution

To solve this problem, we will read the original CSV file, group the data based on the first column, sum the corresponding values in the second and third columns, and write the results to a new CSV file.

Step-by-Step Explanation of the Code

Here’s how you can implement this solution in VB.NET:

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Step-by-Step Breakdown

Imports and File Setup:

We begin by importing relevant namespaces, System.IO for file handling and System.Linq for processing data.

Paths for the input and output CSV files are specified.

Culture Formatting:

We set up a CultureInfo object for de-DE to ensure that numbers are parsed correctly. This is particularly important when handling different decimal and thousand separators.

Reading and Processing Data:

We read the input CSV file and split each line based on semicolons.

We group the data by the first column using GroupBy which allows us to aggregate the sums based on unique keys.

Summing Values:

For each group, we compute the sum of the second and third columns. The sums are formatted into a new string.

Writing to Output File:

Finally, we write the accumulated results to the specified output CSV file.

Conclusion

This method demonstrates a straightforward and efficient approach to perform summation and grouping in VB.NET for data stored in CSV files. By leveraging LINQ, we can concisely handle complex data manipulations with ease. Make sure to test the code with your own CSV files to ensure it meets your needs, and adjust paths accordingly.

With this guide, you should be able to confidently handle and process CSV data in VB.NET.