C# generic extension method to convert a list of type to a CSV string.
public static string ToCsv<T>(this List<T> list)
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
//Get the properties for type T for the headers
PropertyInfo[] propInfos = typeof(T).GetProperties();
for (int i = 0; i <= propInfos.Length - 1; i++)
{
sb.Append(propInfos[i].Name);
if (i < propInfos.Length - 1)
{
sb.Append(",");
}
}
sb.AppendLine();
//Loop through the collection, then the properties and add the values
for (int i = 0; i <= list.Count - 1; i++)
{
T item = list[i];
for (int j = 0; j <= propInfos.Length - 1; j++)
{
object o = item.GetType().GetProperty(propInfos[j].Name).GetValue(item, null);
if (o != null)
{
string value = o.ToString();
//Check if the value contans a comma and place it in quotes if so
if (value.Contains(","))
{
value = string.Concat("\"", value, "\"");
}
//Replace any \r or \n special characters from a new line with a space
if (value.Contains("\r"))
{
value = value.Replace("\r", " ");
}
if (value.Contains("\n"))
{
value = value.Replace("\n", " ");
}
sb.Append(value);
}
if (j < propInfos.Length - 1)
{
sb.Append(",");
}
}
sb.AppendLine();
}
return sb.ToString();
}