Super fast, memory efficient parser
$ dotnet add package NitroTextFieldParserThe NitroTextFieldParser is a blazing-fast .NET library for parsing delimited or fixed-width text files. Built for high performance, it minimizes memory usage by leveraging ReadOnlyMemory<char> and supports advanced features such as quoted field handling. Whether you're processing CSVs or custom delimited files, NitroTextFieldParser provides robust and efficient parsing.
The NitroTextFieldParser outperforms the built-in TextFieldParser in terms of speed and memory usage. The following benchmark results demonstrate the performance benefits of using the NitroTextFieldParser when processing 1000Rows x 9Columns CSV data:
| Method | Mean | Error | StdDev | Rank | Gen0 | Gen1 | Gen2 | Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NitroTextFieldParser | 1.663 ms | 0.0187 ms | 0.0175 ms | 1 | 306.6406 | 134.7656 | - | 1.35 MB |
| OldTextFieldParser | 9.543 ms | 0.1640 ms | 0.1534 ms | 2 | 3343.7500 | 421.8750 | 15.6250 | 12.51 MB |
Stream, suitable for large files.Include the NitroTextFieldParser class in your .NET project or package it into a shared library.
Create an instance of the parser with your data stream.
using NitroTextFieldParser;
using (var stream = File.OpenRead("data.csv"))
using (var parser = new TextFieldParser(stream))
{
parser.SetDelimiters(","); // Set the delimiter for parsing
parser.HasFieldsEnclosedInQuotes = true; // Enable quote handling
}Define the delimiters used to separate fields:
parser.SetDelimiters(",", "\t"); // Supports multiple delimitersRead and parse fields line by line:
while (!parser.EndOfData)
{
var fields = parser.ReadFields(); // Returns ReadOnlyMemory<char>[] for efficient access
foreach (var field in fields)
{
Console.WriteLine(field.ToString()); // Convert to string for display
}
}Enable quote handling for fields:
parser.HasFieldsEnclosedInQuotes = true; // Enable quote handlingExample Input:
"Name","Age","City"
"Alice, Bob","30","New York"Output:
Row 1:
Row 2:
Specify a custom character encoding:
using (var parser = new TextFieldParser(stream, Encoding.UTF8))
{
// Custom encoding setup
}Keep the stream open after parsing:
var parser = new TextFieldParser(stream, Encoding.UTF8, true, true);Read the entire file content at once:
var content = parser.ReadToEnd();Input File (data.csv):
"ID","Name","Email"
1,"John Doe","john@example.com"
2,"Jane Smith","jane@example.com"Output:
Row 1:
Row 2:
Row 3:
This software is dual-licensed:
Custom Open Source License You may use this software under the terms of this Custom Open Source License.
Commercial License For commercial use, a separate license is required. Please contact stianbekker@gmail.com for details.
Copyright (c) [2025] [Christiaan Bekker/Stikie123]
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to use, copy, modify, merge, and distribute the Software, subject to the following conditions:
The Software may be used freely in:
For any commercial use, including but not limited to using the Software in paid products, services, or proprietary projects, the user must obtain a separate commercial license from [Christiaan Bekker/Stikie123]. Please contact [stianbekker@gmail.com] to arrange licensing terms.
Credit must be given to [Christiaan Bekker/Stikie123] in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. This includes clear attribution in the documentation, source code, or any materials distributed with the Software.
Any modifications made to the Software must:
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES, OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
For commercial use, please acquire a license by contacting [stianbekker@gmail.com].