Convert text data file to csv format - vb.net

Question

My text data file is like this:
{1000}xxx{1200}xxx{3000}xxxxxx{5000}
{1000}xx{1500}xxxxxx{4000}xx{6000}
{1000}xxxx{1600}xxx{3000}xxx{6000}
...
I need to convert this data file to csv file or excel file to analyze. I tried Excel or other convert software. But it is not working.
Can I use VB to do that? I did not use VB for a long time (over 10 years).
I am sorry. I did not make it clear.
The number in curly brackets is the field name. Each record doesn't have same field. The result after converted should be like this:
(header line) 1000 1200 1500 1600 3000 4000 5000 6000
(record line) xxx xxx xxx xxx
. xxx xxx xxx xxx
. xxx xxx xxx xxx
We have the text data file everyday (10 - 20 records). Although data is not big, we don't need to re-type to excel file if we can convert to csv file. This can help us lot of time.

Answer 1

You almost definitely could use a programming language (like VB) to make this change. I'm not sure you need to do that though.
If you are trying to write a program to convert the same type of file over and over, it might make sense to build a program in VB.net.
FYI, its hard to help advise you further without understanding more about what you need to do? For example, the size of the file, how often you will need to do it, what the target format will be, etc...
... but the answer I provided did answer the question you asked! ... and I am seeking rep points ;)

Answer 2

In light of your explanation of how the data is structured:
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module Module1
Class Cell
Property ColumnName As String
Property Value As String
' To help with debugging/general usage
Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
Return String.Format("Col: {0} Val: {1}", ColumnName, Value)
End Function
End Class
Dim table As New List(Of List(Of Cell))
Sub Main()
Dim src As String = "C:\temp\sampledata.txt"
Dim dest = "C:\temp\sampledata.csv"
Dim colNames As New List(Of String)
' This regex will look for zero or more characters ".*" surrounded by braces "\{ \}" and
' collect the zero or more characters in a group "( )". The "?" makes it non-greedy.
' The second capture group "( )" gets all the characters up to but not including
' the next "\{" (if it is present).
Dim cellSelector = New Regex("\{(.*?)\}([^\{]*)")
' Read in the cells and record the column names.
Using inFile = New StreamReader(src)
While Not inFile.EndOfStream
Dim line = inFile.ReadLine
Dim rowContent As New List(Of Cell)
For Each m As Match In cellSelector.Matches(line)
rowContent.Add(New Cell With {.ColumnName = m.Groups(1).Value, .Value = m.Groups(2).Value})
If Not colNames.Contains(m.Groups(1).Value) Then
colNames.Add(m.Groups(1).Value)
End If
Next
table.Add(rowContent.OrderBy(Function(c) c.ColumnName).ToList)
End While
End Using
colNames.Sort()
' add the header row of the column names
Dim sb As New StringBuilder(String.Join(",", colNames) & vbCrLf)
' output the data in csv format
For Each r In table
Dim col = 0
Dim cellNo = 0
While cellNo < r.Count AndAlso col < colNames.Count
' If this row has a cell with the appropriate column name then
' add the value to the output.
If r(cellNo).ColumnName = colNames(col) Then
sb.Append(r(cellNo).Value)
cellNo += 1
End If
' add a separator if is not the last item in the row
If col < colNames.Count - 1 Then
sb.Append(","c)
End If
col += 1
End While
sb.AppendLine()
Next
File.WriteAllText(dest, sb.ToString)
End Sub
End Module
From your sample data, the output is
1000,1200,1500,1600,3000,4000,5000,6000
xxx,xxx,,,xxxxxx,,,
xx,,xxxxxx,,,xx,,,
xxxx,,,xxx,xxx,,,,
I notice that none of the final columns have data in them. Is that just a copy-and-paste error or intentional?
EDIT: I use Option Infer On, which is why some of the type declarations are missing.