Unhandled exception: Input string was not in a correct format

Question

I am getting this error though there are other posts as well but I am not getting a proper solution for my problem.

Debugger is pointing to this statement

 id = Convert.ToInt32(s);

It works fine at beginning but now it is generating error. Following is the complete function. As a side note I am following N-tier architecture in Visual Studio 2013.

public List<ATMBO> GetDataFromFile() // get data from file and store it into object and pass to BLL !!!!
{
        List<ATMBO> l = new List<ATMBO>();

        // opening stream !!!
        FileStream f = new FileStream("BankClient.txt", FileMode.Open);
        StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(f);

        if (!File.Exists("BankClient.txt"))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} does not exist.", "BankClient.txt");
        }

        // Start reading from file 
        string record=sr.ReadLine();
        //sr.ReadLine();

        while((record = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
        {
            //record = sr.ReadLine();
            // storing data from file to object!!!! 

            string [] data = record.Split(':');
            //Console.WriteLine(data[0]);
            ATMBO bo = new ATMBO();
            string s = (data[0]);
            int id = 0;

            try
            {
                id = Convert.ToInt32(s);
            }
            catch (FormatException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Input string is not a sequence of digits.");
            }
            catch (OverflowException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("The number cannot fit in an Int32.");
            }

            bo.ID1 = id;
            bo.Login = data[1];
            bo.Type = data[2];
            string ss = (data[3]);
            int blnc = Convert.ToInt32(ss);
            bo.Balance = blnc;
            bo.Status = data[4];
            bo.Date = data[5];
            bo.Pin = data[6];
            l.Add(bo);
        }

        sr.Close();
        f.Close();
        return l;
    }

Contents of my BankClient.txt file:

ID:Name:Type:Balance:Status:Date:Pin
00:Admin:Savings:500:Active:1/11/2014:111
01:Nabeel:Savings:0:Active:1/11/2014:222
02:Asad:Current:600:Active:2/11/2014:333
03:Aqsa:Current:-300:Active:3/11/2014:ABC
04:Umer:Savings:1000:Active:4/11/2014:444            
05:Ali:Savings:1000:Active:4/11/2014:555

What is the value of s and what is your CurrentCulture? Debug your code and tell us. If this fails on your first line, data[0] points to ID string (since you spliting with :) and clearly it is not a valid string. Did you try to skip your first line on this text file? Looks like you don't need it. — Soner Gönül
– Soner Gönül, Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 7:59
Put a breakpoint on string s = (data[0]); and see what the value is. From what you've posted it looks like it should work, but the quickest way to figure it out is to use the debugger. — Tim
– Tim, Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 8:01
Are you accidentally reading the first line (the column headers)? — Rik
– Rik, Commented Nov 4, 2014 at 8:03

Sayse · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-04 08:09:58Z

1

You need to add some error handling to your code to make sure there are actual values you can work with, such as

string [] data = record.Split(':');
if(data.length < 7)
    Console.WriteLine("Data doesn't contain what was expected");

Better yet, instead of Convert.ToInt32 you can use TryParse

int id;
if(!int.TryParse(s, out id))
    Console.WriteLine("Not a valid id");

answered Nov 4, 2014 at 8:09

Sayse

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5 Comments

NN796 Over a year ago

This is working, but by traversing data, it is displaying records properly but two times it displays "Data doesn't contain what was expected" !

Sayse Over a year ago

@EM923 Set a breakpoint on that WriteLine and see what data and record contains then, your text file contains invalid lines.

NN796 Over a year ago

I am not getting why data array has less length then seven sometimes ! I debugged but not getting it properly !

Sayse Over a year ago

@EM923 - How To Set a Breakpoint or just open Notepad or the text file editor of your choice, go to the missing line (hint: it will be the one directly below a line that works) and have a look at the data on that line. If needed write it out verbatim onto a peice of paper, and rip that paper up at every semi-colon and count the number of bits of paper.

NN796 Over a year ago

I find the problem by debugging , null is found by stream two lines next to last record, that is why it is reading two null records more then five records ! What should i do now ? should i place null in file explicitly ?

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