How to Only Read the First N Lines of a File in C#

Raw string literals in C# provide a flexible way to work with multiline strings, with some interesting rules around how quotes work.

The key insight is that you can use any number of double quotes (three or more) to delimit your string, as long as the opening and closing sequences have the same number of quotes.

The Basic Rules

1. You must use at least three double quotes (""") to start and end a raw string literal
2. The opening and closing quotes must have the same count
3. The closing quotes must be on their own line for proper indentation
4. If your string content contains a sequence of double quotes, you need to use more quotes in your delimiter than the longest sequence in your content

Examples with Different Quote Counts

// Three quotes - most common usage
string basic = """
    This is a basic
    multiline string
    """;

// Four quotes - when your content has three quotes
string withThreeQuotes = """"
    Here's some text with """quoted""" content
    """";

// Five quotes - when your content has four quotes
string withFourQuotes = """""
    Here's text with """"nested"""" quotes
    """"";

// Six quotes - for even more complex scenarios
string withFiveQuotes = """"""
    Look at these """""nested""""" quotes!
    """""";

The N+1 Rule

The general rule is that if your string content contains N consecutive double quotes, you need to wrap the entire string with at least N+1 quotes. This ensures the compiler can properly distinguish between your content and the string's delimiters.

// Example demonstrating the N+1 rule
string example1 = """
    No quotes inside
    """; // 3 quotes is fine

string example2 = """"
    Contains """three quotes"""
    """"; // Needs 4 quotes (3+1)

string example3 = """""
    Has """"four quotes""""
    """""; // Needs 5 quotes (4+1)

Practical Tips

• Start with three quotes (""") as your default
• Only increase the quote count when you actually need to embed quote sequences in your content
• The closing quotes must be on their own line and should line up with the indentation you want
• Any whitespace to the left of the closing quotes defines the baseline indentation

// Indentation example
string properlyIndented = """
    {
        "property": "value",
        "nested": {
            "deeper": "content"
        }
    }
    """; // This line's position determines the indentation

This flexibility with quote counts makes raw string literals extremely versatile, especially when dealing with content that itself contains quotes, like JSON, XML, or other structured text formats.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a widely used format for storing and transporting data.

In C#, you can create XML files efficiently using the XmlWriter and XDocument classes. This guide covers both methods with practical examples.

Writing XML Using XmlWriter

XmlWriter provides a fast and memory-efficient way to generate XML files by writing elements sequentially.

Example:

using System;
using System.Xml;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        using (XmlWriter writer = XmlWriter.Create("person.xml"))
        {
            writer.WriteStartDocument();
            writer.WriteStartElement("Person");

            writer.WriteElementString("FirstName", "John");
            writer.WriteElementString("LastName", "Doe");
            writer.WriteElementString("Age", "30");

            writer.WriteEndElement();
            writer.WriteEndDocument();
        }
        Console.WriteLine("XML file created successfully.");
    }
}

Output (person.xml):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Person>
    <FirstName>John</FirstName>
    <LastName>Doe</LastName>
    <Age>30</Age>
</Person>

Writing XML Using XDocument

The XDocument class from LINQ to XML provides a more readable and flexible way to create XML files.

Example:

using System;
using System.Xml.Linq;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        XDocument doc = new XDocument(
            new XElement("Person",
                new XElement("FirstName", "John"),
                new XElement("LastName", "Doe"),
                new XElement("Age", "30")
            )
        );
        doc.Save("person.xml");
        Console.WriteLine("XML file created successfully.");
    }
}

This approach is ideal for working with complex XML structures and integrating LINQ queries.

When to Use Each Method

• Use XmlWriter when performance is critical and you need to write XML sequentially.
• Use XDocument when you need a more readable, maintainable, and flexible way to manipulate XML.

Conclusion

Writing XML files in C# is straightforward with XmlWriter and XDocument. Choose the method that best suits your needs for performance, readability, and maintainability.

Duplicate records in SQL Server can lead to inaccurate reporting, data inconsistencies, and performance issues. In this article, we’ll go over how to identify and safely remove duplicate rows while keeping at least one unique record.

Detecting Duplicates

To find duplicate records in a table, use the GROUP BY and HAVING clauses to count occurrences of each unique combination of values:

SELECT column1, column2, COUNT(*)
FROM YourTable
GROUP BY column1, column2
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;

Replace column1, column2 with the columns that define a duplicate in your dataset.

If you need to see the actual duplicate rows, use a ROW_NUMBER() approach:

SELECT *
FROM (
    SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY column1, column2 ORDER BY id) AS row_num
    FROM YourTable
) t
WHERE row_num > 1;

Here, id should be a unique column to order the duplicates.

Removing Duplicates

Method 1: Using ROW_NUMBER()

The safest way to remove duplicates while keeping one unique record is by using ROW_NUMBER().

WITH CTE AS (
    SELECT *, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY column1, column2 ORDER BY id) AS row_num
    FROM YourTable
)
DELETE FROM CTE WHERE row_num > 1;

This deletes all duplicate records while keeping the first occurrence.

Method 2: Using DISTINCT INTO a New Table

If you want to be extra cautious, create a new table with only unique records:

SELECT DISTINCT * INTO NewTable FROM YourTable;

Then, drop the old table and rename NewTable back to YourTable.

Final Thoughts

Always backup your data before running delete operations to prevent accidental data loss. By regularly cleaning up duplicates, you can keep your SQL Server database efficient and reliable.