Can I somehow password-protect pre-import CSV files?

[=?Utf-8?B?am9uaWdy?=]

I wrote a simple VB.NET application that imports and edits CSV files.

Now I’d like to “lock� the raw (pre-import) CSV files so these cannot be
opened separately. It is not high-sensitive data, I just don’t want folks to
peek in the files.

So time-consuming encryption is not necessary, just a simple
password-to-open that I can program in my application so it internally opens
the imported CSV file would be perfect, but I can’t get it done. In fact it
seems difficult to password-protect a CSV file in any way.

The pre-import CSV’s are delivered as ZIP’s, so I thought about
password-protecting the ZIP files and importing and unzipping these within my
program, but this would seem much more challenging (if at all possible)
especially for an inexperienced programmer like me.

Any tips, pointers, ideas are highly appreciated. Thanks!

[Jack Dolby]

Check dnr tv episode 53... Carl Franklin and Mark Dunn show how to gzip
and un-gzip and encrypt and decrypt text streams.

<http://www.dnrtv.com/default.aspx?sh owID=53>

I think this is just what you are looking for.

codeman

jonigr wrote:

I wrote a simple VB.NET application that imports and edits CSV files.

Now I’d like to “lock� the raw (pre-import) CSV files so these cannot be
opened separately. It is not high-sensitive data, I just don’t want folks to
peek in the files.

So time-consuming encryption is not necessary, just a simple
password-to-open that I can program in my application so it internally opens
the imported CSV file would be perfect, but I can’t get it done. In fact it
seems difficult to password-protect a CSV file in any way.

The pre-import CSV’s are delivered as ZIP’s, so I thought about
password-protecting the ZIP files and importing and unzipping these within my
program, but this would seem much more challenging (if at all possible)
especially for an inexperienced programmer like me.

Any tips, pointers, ideas are highly appreciated. Thanks!

[Spam Catcher]

=?Utf-8?B?am9uaWdy?= <jo****@discuss ions.microsoft. comwrote in
news:88******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com:

I will look into the ZIP possibilities suggested, this could be an
alternative.

ZIP is great - in fact ZIP encryption is quite secure too :-)

[Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]]

I was under the impression, but have not verified it, that you can use the

System.IO.Packa ging namespace to open a plain ZIP file.

Playing with the System.IO.Packa ging namespace this afternoon; I was
mistaken.

System.IO.Packa ging cannot open a plain ZIP file. It needs to be a true
Package file.

However! as I suggested Office 2007 uses Packages as a native format, while
earlier versions have a converter that can be used to read & write Packages.

--
Hope this helps
Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]
..NET Application Architect, Enthusiast, & Evangelist
T.S. Bradley - http://www.tsbradley.net
"Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]" <Ja************ @tsbradley.netw rote in
message news:E0******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com...

jonigr,

>The pre-import CSV’s are delivered as ZIP’s, so I thought about
password-protecting the ZIP files and importing and unzipping these
within my

Have you considered a .NET 3.0 "Package"? Aka an Office 2007 .xlsx file?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/is...s/default.aspx

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...packaging.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
.NET 3.0 & Office 2007 are adopting the "Package" as a standard file
format. What is a "Package" you ask? Its little more then a specifically
formatted Zip file. In other words its a zip file that contains a specific
structure & some specific files. Office 2007 files are packages (zip
files) that contain XML documents.

What is .NET 3.0 you ask? .NET 3.0 is a full superset of .NET 2.0 that is
included with Windows Vista. .NET 2.0 programs run unaffected as .NET 3.0
adds new namespaces & types to existing .NET 2.0 installations.
I was under the impression, but have not verified it, that you can use the
System.IO.Packa ging namespace to open a plain ZIP file. Something that I
will try this morning & report back on. If System.IO.Packa ging cannot read
plain zip files, you should be able to use this converter to save the xls
as an xlsx file:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
--
Hope this helps
Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]
.NET Application Architect, Enthusiast, & Evangelist
T.S. Bradley - http://www.tsbradley.net
"jonigr" <jo****@discuss ions.microsoft. comwrote in message
news:FB******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com...

>>I wrote a simple VB.NET application that imports and edits CSV files.

Now I’d like to “lock� the raw (pre-import) CSV files so these cannot be
opened separately. It is not high-sensitive data, I just don’t want folks
to
peek in the files.

So time-consuming encryption is not necessary, just a simple
password-to-open that I can program in my application so it internally
opens
the imported CSV file would be perfect, but I can’t get it done. In fact
it
seems difficult to password-protect a CSV file in any way.

The pre-import CSV’s are delivered as ZIP’s, so I thought about
password-protecting the ZIP files and importing and unzipping these
within my
program, but this would seem much more challenging (if at all possible)
especially for an inexperienced programmer like me.

Any tips, pointers, ideas are highly appreciated. Thanks!