Question

You must let the user select a data file (using common dialog control) to read.

After reading the file, draw a graph of some kind to represent the data.

C# Form Application

what kind of coding should I use to achieve this?

Answer 1

I have developed a sample form applciaton that consists of open file dialog box and chart control.

After reading the data using the file upload.

We can pass it to the series value in the chart.

Please refer below.

Form:

Designer:

namespace DataReadAndGraph
{
partial class Form1
{
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;

/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && (components != null))
{
components.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}

#region Windows Form Designer generated code

/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.ChartArea chartArea1 = new System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.ChartArea();
System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.Legend legend1 = new System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.Legend();
System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.Series series1 = new System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.Series();
this.openFileDialog1 = new System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog();
this.button1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.chart1 = new System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.Chart();
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.chart1)).BeginInit();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// openFileDialog1
//
this.openFileDialog1.FileName = "openFileDialog1";
//
// button1
//
this.button1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(185, 48);
this.button1.Name = "button1";
this.button1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(104, 48);
this.button1.TabIndex = 0;
this.button1.Text = "Read File";
this.button1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
//
// chart1
//
chartArea1.Name = "ChartArea1";
this.chart1.ChartAreas.Add(chartArea1);
legend1.Name = "Legend1";
this.chart1.Legends.Add(legend1);
this.chart1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(111, 178);
this.chart1.Name = "chart1";
series1.ChartArea = "ChartArea1";
series1.Legend = "Legend1";
series1.Name = "Series1";
this.chart1.Series.Add(series1);
this.chart1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(300, 300);
this.chart1.TabIndex = 1;
this.chart1.Text = "chart1";
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(595, 511);
this.Controls.Add(this.chart1);
this.Controls.Add(this.button1);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.chart1)).EndInit();
this.ResumeLayout(false);

}

#endregion

private System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog openFileDialog1;
private System.Windows.Forms.Button button1;
private System.Windows.Forms.DataVisualization.Charting.Chart chart1;
}
}

Code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO;

namespace DataReadAndGraph
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
openFileDialog1.ShowDialog();

string path = openFileDialog1.FileName;

using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(path))
{
while (true)
{
string line = reader.ReadLine();
  
  
}
}
}
}
}