Most efficient way of converting a DataTable to CSV

Question

I'm working with DataTable's and I need to convert them to a CSV file format. Most of the tables I am working with have over 50,000 records so I'm trying to minimize the time it takes to convert them.

Here is my current method:

    public static string table_to_csv(DataTable table)
    {
        string file = "";

        foreach (DataColumn col in table.Columns)
            file = string.Concat(file, col.ColumnName, ",");

        file = file.Remove(file.LastIndexOf(','), 1);
        file = string.Concat(file, "\r\n");

        foreach (DataRow row in table.Rows)
        {
            foreach (object item in row.ItemArray)
                file = string.Concat(file, item.ToString(), ",");

            file = file.Remove(file.LastIndexOf(','), 1);
            file = string.Concat(file, "\r\n");
        }

        return file;
    }

Is there any way I can improve the efficiency of this method? I'm welcome to any modifications and ideas that you have!

Answer 1

Use a System.Text.StringBuilder for huge strings - that's pretty fast. I implemented this one:

public static string DataTableToCSV(this DataTable datatable, char seperator)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    for (int i = 0; i < datatable.Columns.Count; i++)
    {
        sb.Append(datatable.Columns[i]);
        if (i < datatable.Columns.Count - 1)
            sb.Append(seperator);
    }
    sb.AppendLine();
    foreach (DataRow dr in datatable.Rows)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < datatable.Columns.Count; i++)
        {
            sb.Append(dr[i].ToString());

            if (i < datatable.Columns.Count - 1)
                sb.Append(seperator);
        }
        sb.AppendLine();
    }
    return sb.ToString();
}