Set UTF8 encoding on streamwriter

Question

I need to write the content of a DataTable to a csv. There are some Chinese strings in it as well.

I used to use the below script:

System.IO.StreamWriter streamWriter = new System.IO.StreamWriter(dlg.FileName);

string strHeader = "";
for (int s = 0; s < table.Columns.Count; s++)
{
    strHeader += table.Columns[s].ColumnName + ",";
}
streamWriter.WriteLine(strHeader);

for (int m = 0; m < table.Rows.Count; m++)
{
    string strRowValue = "";
    for (int n = 0; n < table.Columns.Count; n++)
    {
        strRowValue += table.Rows[m][n] + ",";
    }
    streamWriter.WriteLine(strRowValue);
}
streamWriter.Close();

But that obviously doesn't handle Unicode characters. It writes instead something like æœç‹—. So I tried to set the encoding like this:

System.IO.StreamWriter streamWriter = new System.IO.StreamWriter(dlg.FileName, Encoding.UTF8);

But then I get Argument 1: cannot convert from 'string' to 'System.IO.Stream. So how could I set the encoding in this very example?

Have you tried reading the [documentation for StreamWriter](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.streamwriter.aspx)? — Albireo, Dec 17 '15 at 10:35
Or searched StackOverflow for an answer: for example http://stackoverflow.com/questions/373365/how-to-write-out-a-text-file-in-c-sharp-with-a-code-page-other-than-utf-8 — Alex, Dec 17 '15 at 10:38
Also note that the constructor in your original code defaults to using UTF-8 anyway... so I dispute your claim that "that obviously doesn't handle Unicode characters". It's not clear where the problem is. You should also learn about `using` statements and either `StringBuilder` or just calling `Write` rather than concatenating strings in a loop. — Jon Skeet, Dec 17 '15 at 10:38
What's the problem with [`StreamWriter Constructor (String, Boolean, Encoding)`](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f5f5x7kt.aspx) then? — Albireo, Dec 17 '15 at 10:45

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 17 '15 at 10:39

9

System.IO.StreamWriter streamWriter = new System.IO.StreamWriter(new FileStream(dlg.FileName, FileMode.Open), Encoding.UTF8);

answered Dec 17 '15 at 10:39

Alexcei Shmakov

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Set UTF8 encoding on streamwriter

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