Removing blank fields from a delimited file using VB.NET - vb.net

Question

Using VB.NET (VS2013) I'd like to read a delimited file and remove a field if all records have the same blank field (could be multiple fields per record). The delimited file can have "x" number of columns and "y" number of rows and once the blank fields are removed, I need to write it back out as a new delimited file.
The input file will have a header that has to be maintained and the order of the records has to be maintained. I'm familiar with using TextParser to read the file and familiar with writing the file -- what I need help with is reading for a blank field and removing it if it exists across the entire file.
I was thinking I would have to use a datagrid but never used them so looking for some insight to point me in the direction.
Thanks!

Answer 1

I assume each line is delimited with a newline... open as a text file, read a line at a time and use the Split method to break up the line into an array of strings. The split method will take an argument that defines the delimiter you are using. Open the destination file and write the array of strings using a loop.

Answer 2

UPDATE
After thinking about it, you may have records that have a couple of blank columns and the rest have data. I'm not sure if you'd want to remove those columns, because you would lose the structure of the row if you did.
So instead of using StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries, you can just do the Split() and then perform some Linq to find out if the Split() produced an array of empty strings.
Something like (with the same results)...
Imports System
Imports System.Linq
Public Module Module1
Public Sub Main()
Dim data As String = "|||||"
Dim pieces As String() = data.Split("|"c)
If pieces.Where(Function(p) String.IsNullOrEmpty(p) = False).Count = 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("All elements are empty")
Else
' Do something
End If
End Sub
End Module
Demo
OLD ANSWER
The String.Split() has an overload that excepts StringSplitOptions. Use StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries with your String.Split() and if all records are blank then you'll end up with an array with a length of 0 that you can ignore.
Imports System
Public Module Module1
Public Sub Main()
Dim data As String = "|||||"
Dim pieces As String() = data.Split(new Char() {"|"}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
If pieces.length = 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("All elements are empty")
Else
' Do something
End If
End Sub
End Module
Results:
All elements are empty
Demo