Returning a selected record from a text file to Data Grid View control

Question

I may have noticed that when reading text files and importing them to a Data Grid View control, they only read character by character if I only show the first record for example.

How would I need to concatenate a record that's already been filtered?

In other words, how would I need to just display a record that is displayed all in one line, for example:

In the names text file:

John

Its output:

J

o

h

n

In a single record in a data grid view control, it supposed to be like this:

John

If there are other ways to code this, that would be great.

Also, there should be some tutorials on how to read and write text line by line, not character by character.

Here is the code snippet, but it needs to be improved:

public class Example        {            public string FirstName { get; set; }                                } private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {   var results = File.ReadAllLines("C:\\Users\\johnc\\OneDrive\\Documents\\Names.txt");           var result = (from x in results.First()                  select new Example                 {                     FirstName = x.ToString();                 }).ToList();               dataGridView1.DataSource = result; }

Answer 1

Here is a working example, drop a DataGridView on a form.

Create a text file, name it names.txt with the following.

Karen
Bob
John
Mary

Set copy to output folder to copy if newer.

Form code

namespace WinFormsApp1;

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        dataGridView1.DataSource = 
            File.ReadAllLines("Names.txt")
                .Select(x => new Item()
                {
                    FirstName = x
                })
                .ToList();
    }
}

public class Item
{
    public required string FirstName { get; set; }
}

Screenshot

If you want to order the names

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        dataGridView1.DataSource = 
            File.ReadAllLines("Names.txt")
                .Select(x => new Item()
                {
                    FirstName = x
                }).OrderBy(x => x.FirstName)
                .ToList();
    }
}

Also, if there are empty lines the following skips them.

dataGridView1.DataSource = 
    File.ReadAllLines("Names.txt")
        .Where(line => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(line))
        .Select(line => new Item()
        {
            FirstName = line
        }).OrderBy(item => item.FirstName)
        .ToList();

Answer 2

It appears that you've noticed a character-by-character reading issue when importing text files into a Data Grid View control, especially when displaying the first record. To concatenate a filtered record for a single-line display, you should modify your code to read and consolidate complete lines from the text file instead of reading characters individually. This will ensure that the record is shown correctly in a single line within the Data Grid View control.