I have an enum as below:
public enum MyEnum { One, Two, Three}
And I would like to pare some strings to above enum, for example, below strings are going to be parsed as MyEnum.Two:
"Two", "TWO", "Second", "2"
I know I can maintain a mapping function to do this job. However, I just want to find a better way, for example, override Enum.Parse function, or something like that. I have tried to use IConvertable, but it seems not possible. Any idea?
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Field, AllowMultiple = true)]
public class NameAttribute : Attribute
{
public readonly string[] Names;
public NameAttribute(string name)
{
if (name == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException();
}
Names = new[] { name };
}
public NameAttribute(params string[] names)
{
if (names == null || names.Any(x => x == null))
{
throw new ArgumentNullException();
}
Names = names;
}
}
public static class ParseEnum
{
public static TEnum Parse<TEnum>(string value) where TEnum : struct
{
return ParseEnumImpl<TEnum>.Values[value];
}
public static bool TryParse<TEnum>(string value, out TEnum result) where TEnum : struct
{
return ParseEnumImpl<TEnum>.Values.TryGetValue(value, out result);
}
private static class ParseEnumImpl<TEnum> where TEnum : struct
{
public static readonly Dictionary<string, TEnum> Values = new Dictionary<string,TEnum>();
static ParseEnumImpl()
{
var nameAttributes = typeof(TEnum)
.GetFields()
.Select(x => new
{
Value = x,
Names = x.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(NameAttribute), false)
.Cast<NameAttribute>()
});
var degrouped = nameAttributes.SelectMany(
x => x.Names.SelectMany(y => y.Names),
(x, y) => new { Value = x.Value, Name = y });
Values = degrouped.ToDictionary(
x => x.Name,
x => (TEnum)x.Value.GetValue(null));
}
}
}
Then you can (note the double syntax for [Name], multiple [Name] or single [Name] with multiple names):
public enum TestEnum
{
[Name("1")]
[Name("Foo")]
[Name("F")]
[Name("XF", "YF")]
Foo = 1,
[Name("2")]
[Name("Bar")]
[Name("B")]
[Name("XB", "YB")]
Bar = 2
}
and
TestEnum r1 = ParseEnum.Parse<TestEnum>("XF");
TestEnum r2;
bool r3 = ParseEnum.TryParse<TestEnum>("YB", out r2);
Note the use of an inner class (ParseEnumImpl<TEnum>) to cache the TEnum "names".
The best way is just store a Dictionary with mappings:
static Dictionary<string, string> _mappings = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
{ "Two", "Two" },
{ "Second", "Two" },
{ "2", "Two" }
};
Then you call case insensetive version of Enum.Parse(Type, String, Boolean):
String str = "2";
MyEnum number = (MyEnum)Enum.Parse(typeof(MyEnum), _mappings[str], true);
Usually, I prefer simple solution since they are much more understandable than"override Enum.Parse function, or something like that".
But we can do it even more simple by using Dictionary<string, MyEnum>:
static Dictionary<string, MyEnum> _mappings = new Dictionary<string, MyEnum>
{
{ "Two", MyEnum.Two },
{ "Second", MyEnum.Two },
{ "2", MyEnum.Two }
};
Now to get your enum:
MyEnum myEnumb = _mappings[str];
The latter approach also improves performance, since we avoid Enum.Parse invocation.
You are trying to parse two distinct cases:
The input contains the enum's name
The input contains the enum's value
If these two are the only cases in the input, you can simply use the Enum.TryParse Method (String, Boolean, TEnum) to try parsing the text in a case-insensitive manner:
MyEnum output;
if (Enum.TryParse(input,true,out output))
{
// Process succesful value
}
C# 7+ Update: The variable can be declared in the same line now:
if (Enum.TryParse(input,true,out var output))
{
// Process succesful value
}
From the documentation examples you see that TryParse can handle both textual and numeric string inputs.
As for parsing Second, this text has no relation to the enum except in the coder's mind. In this case you would really have to create a mapping and place it somewhere - a dictionary, a custom attribute etc.
In fact, if the data comes from external files, this is an ETL problem instead of a parsing problem. In such cases, the typical solution is to create lookup tables that map inputs to recognized outputs and replace the input with the lookup values before parsing
You can use the nuget package Enums.NET to do a reverse lookup on Description Attribute.
Note there's an overload with an ignoreCase boolean.
public enum PhoneCode
{
[DescriptionAttribute("991")]
Emergency,
[DescriptionAttribute("411")]
Info,
}
PhoneCode code;
EnumsNET.Enums.TryParse("991", out code, EnumsNET.EnumFormat.Description)
While I do like the attributes, I went with a mapping myself and instead, I extended the string base type like this:
public enum Rating
{
High,
Medium,
Low,
Other
};
I then have a static class for my extensions... which holds this code in it:
public static Dictionary<string, Rating> RatingsMap = new Dictionary<string, Rating>()
{
{"Highly recommended", Rating.High},
{"Ok", Rating.Medium},
{"Liked", Rating.Medium},
{"Thumbs down", Rating.Low}
};
public static Rating ToRating(this string me)
{
Rating retval = Rating.Other;
if (EXTENSIONS.RatingsMap.ContainsKey(me))
retval = EXTENSIONS.RatingsMap[me];
return retval;
}
Following #xanatos solution. To obtain the EnumValue you can do next:
public static string GetStringValue(Enum value)
{
string output = null;
Type type = value.GetType();
System.Reflection.FieldInfo fi = type.GetField(value.ToString());
NameAttribute[] attrs = fi.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(NameAttribute), false) as NameAttribute[];
if (attrs.Length > 0)
{
output = attrs[0].Name[0];
}
return output;
}
I generate dynamic enums that represent integer IDs from my database in a C# ASP.NET solution. I would like two things, although neither may be possible.
1) I want the .ToString() method to give me "345" for example, not the string name of the enum (the int it represents as a string). Every answer to this question seems to be adding
[Description="Blah"]
EnumName = 1
above the declaration and using a GetDescription() method. I have no idea how to do this with the dynamic code that I am using.
2) I'd rather not cast to an int to use it as such, I'd rather (Enum.Name == 5) for example. If this isn't possible I'll cast, but I really don't want to use ((int)Enum.Name)).ToString();
Here's the dynamic code generation:
public static void Main()
{
AppDomain domain = AppDomain.CurrentDomain;
AssemblyName aName = new AssemblyName("DynamicEnums");
AssemblyBuilder ab = domain.DefineDynamicAssembly(aName, AssemblyBuilderAccess.Save);
ModuleBuilder mb = ab.DefineDynamicModule(aName.Name, aName.Name + ".dll");
List<Type> types = new List<Type>();
foreach(ReferenceType rt in GetTypes())
{
EnumBuilder eb = mb.DefineEnum(rt.Name, TypeAttributes.Public, typeof(int));
foreach (Reference r in GetReferences(rt.ID))
{
eb.DefineLiteral(NameFix(r.Name), r.ID);
}
types.Add(eb.CreateType());
}
ab.Save(aName.Name + ".dll");
foreach (Type t in types)
{
foreach (object o in Enum.GetValues(t))
{
Console.WriteLine("{0}.{1} = {2}", t, o, ((int) o));
}
Console.WriteLine();
//Console.ReadKey();
}
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Dynamic Enums Built Successfully.");
}
public static string NameFix(string name)
{
//Strip all non alphanumeric characters
string r = Regex.Replace(name, #"[^\w]", "");
//Enums cannot begin with a number
if (Regex.IsMatch(r, #"^\d"))
r = "N" + r;
return r;
}
There may just be no way to do what I want to do, and I'll be stuck using:
(int)Countries.USA //For int value
((int)Countries.CAN).ToString() //For string representation of int value, ex. "354"
Any ideas?
Could you adapt the type-safe enum pattern to do what you need?
public class MyEnum
{
#region Enum Values
// Pre defined values.
public static readonly MyEnum ValueOne = new MyEnum(0);
public static readonly MyEnum ValueTwo = new MyEnum(1);
// All values in existence.
private static readonly Dictionary<int, MyEnum> existingEnums = new Dictionary<int, MyEnum>{{ValueOne.Value, ValueOne}, {ValueTwo.Value, ValueTwo}};
#endregion
#region Enum Functionality
private readonly int Value;
private MyEnum(int value)
{
Value = value;
}
public static MyEnum GetEnum(int value)
{
// You will probably want to make this thread-safe.
if (!existingEnums.ContainsKey(value)) existingEnums[value] = new MyEnum(value);
return existingEnums[value];
}
public override string ToString()
{
return Value.ToString();
}
#endregion
}
Usage:
private void Foo(MyEnum enumVal)
{
return "Enum Value: " + enumVal; // returns "Enum Value: (integer here)
}
Or:
MyEnum.GetValue(2) == MyEnum.GetValue(4); // false
MyEnum.GetValue(3) == MyEnum.GetValue(3); // true
So you actually want to convert the Enum value to a string not the name? Casting to the Enum's underlying type is the simplest way to get the value out. I think you will struggle to get anything shorter or simpler than ((int)...).
If you don't want to "enumerate" some values, or want to do somthing different you could make your own class of YourEnum which basically has the cast built in, casting when required seems easier and more readable.
Perhaps you actually want some constants.
const string Blah = "345";
EDIT
I had another idea, you could write an extension method for Enum like this,
public static class MyExtentions
{
public static string ValueString(this Enum e)
{
var ut = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(e.GetType());
var castToString = typeOf(MyExtentions).GetMethod("CastToString");
var gcast = cast.MakeGenericMethod(ut);
var gparams = new object[] {e};
return gcast.Invoke(null, gparams).ToString();
}
public static string CastToString<T>(object o)
{
return ((T)o).ToString();
}
}
With this you can call ValueString() on any Enum instance and get a string of the value. It clearly used reflection so the performance won't be amazing but I don't think that matters in your case.
As you're using the Enum class type, how about using the Enum.Format method.
For example:
enum EnumClassA {One, Two, Three, Four};
...
EnumClassA chosenValue = EnumClassA.Three;
Console.WriteLine("Chosen value is {0}", Enum.Format(typeof(EnumClassA), chosenValue, "d"));
This should give an output of:
Chosen value is 2
edit
Another option would be:
EnumClassA.Three.ToString("d"); //Enum.Name.ToString("d")
This also gives a string value of "2".
** edit **
As you're doing comparisons to see if the value exists within your enums how about using Enum.IsDefined(enumType, value) which returns a bool?
Console.WriteLine("Does the enumClassA contain {0} result is {1}", 5, Enum.IsDefined(typeof(enumClassA), 5));
This gives an output of:
Does the enumClassA contain 5 result is False
I realise that the question has been marked as answered, but perhaps using an extension might be useful?
It still allows you to use your generated enums this way.
ps. Take care when calling GetString - don't accidentally call ToString instead!
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Reflection.Emit;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
public enum YourEnum
{
Apples = 1,
Pears = 2,
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
foreach (var value in (YourEnum[])Enum.GetValues(typeof(YourEnum)))
{
int v = value.GetValue();
Console.WriteLine("{0} = {1} (int)", value.ToString(), v);
string s = value.GetString();
Console.WriteLine("{0} = {1} (string)", value.ToString(), s);
}
Console.ReadLine();
//Results:
//Apples = 1 (int)
//Apples = 1 (string)
//Pears = 2 (int)
//Pears = 2 (string)
}
}
public static class EnumExtensions
{
public static int GetValue(this Enum value)
{
return Convert.ToInt32(value);
}
public static string GetString(this Enum value)
{
return Convert.ToInt32(value).ToString();
}
}
}
I'm on learning for C#.
I heared C# is one of the most constructible language. so would you guys make my code more elegant and efficient?
public class ISO639
{
public enum ISO639Code
{
Afrikaans, //af
Albanian, //sq
Amharic, //am
...
Yiddish, //yi
Unknown
}
public static string GetISO639CodeString(ISO639.ISO639Code l)
{
switch (l)
{
case ISO639Code.English: return "en";
case ISO639Code.Japanese: return "ja";
...
case ISO639Code.Hebrew: return "he";
default: return "";
}
public static ISO639.ISO639Code GetISO39CodeValue(string s)
{
switch (s)
{
case "ko" : return ISO639Code.Korean;
case "en" : return ISO639Code.English;
...
case "hu" : return ISO639Code.Hungarian;
default: return ISO639Code.Unknown;
}
}
}
Here is a my class ISO639. This class provides enum for ISO639 code, but I need a type conversion on from ISO639 enum to plain string. (ex. ISO639.ISO639Code.Italian => "it"). I also need a type conversion from plain string to ISO639 enum. (ex. "it" => ISO639.ISO639Code.Italian).
Is there a more efficient coding style for that?
You can add standard System.ComponentModel.Description attribute to each enum entry and then read it.
public enum ISO639Code
{
[Description("af")]
Afrikaans
}
public static class EnumExtensions
{
// Extension method to read Description value
public static string GetDescription(this Enum currentEnum)
{
var fi = currentEnum.GetType().GetField(currentEnum.ToString());
var da = (DescriptionAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(fi, typeof(DescriptionAttribute));
return da != null ? da.Description : currentEnum.ToString();
}
}
// **How-to read it**
ISO639Code isoCode = ISO639Code.Afrikaans;
// this will returns "af"
string isoDescription = isoCode.GetDescription();
EDIT:
string searchFor = "af";
ISO639Code foundEntry;
// Loop through all entries descriptions
var allEntries = Enum.GetValues(typeof(ISO639Code));
foreach (var entry in allEntries)
{
// If you will extract this as separate method and use it for search not only loop
// through the all entries - you can put here is yield return description
var currentEntry = ((ISO639Code)entry);
string description = currentEntry.GetDescription();
if (description == searchFor)
{
foundEntry = currentEntry;
break;
}
}
Sure. You can use attributes:
public enum ISO639Code
{
[CodeString("af")] Afrikaans,
[CodeString("sq")] Albanian,
}
Use dictionary, for example: new Dictionary<ISO639Code, string>.
I suggest you to use C# extension methods to enums, they allow you to add whatever logic you want.
For example, see http://pietschsoft.com/post/2008/07/c-enhance-enums-using-extension-methods.aspx
I'd simply store the information in a dictionary-like object. This way you can reference the name by key and get the value directly.
You have an enum:
public enum ISO639Code
{
Afrikaans = 1,
Albanian = 2,
Amharic = 3,
etc.
Create a database table:
ISO639Id int PK,
ISO639Code char(2)
Where the ISO639Id maps to the value of the enum.
In code you'd want a ISO630 Class containing Id and Code values read from the database.
(You can load this once and then cache it in memory.)
The beauty of this approach, is it can be easily extended so that if in future you wanted to store more pieces of information for each ISO639 code, you could simply add another field.
Look at System.Globailzation namespace. The functionality you require looks to be already implemented there. At worst you can see the architecture and technique applied in the .Net framework to solve a very similar problem.
Enumerations are really good to work in code, as they are really strongly typed and make refactoring easier.
Follow these steps:
Use attributes for whatever extra information you want to attach to an enum. Usually this is a simple Description attribute. Something like:
public enum IsoCodes
{
[Description("af")]
Africans = 0,
[Description("am")]
Americans = 1
}
Then write some extension methods to convert strings and integers to and from this enum:
public static string GetDescription(this Enum value)
{
var entries = value.ToString().Split(FlagEnumSeparatorCharacter);
var description = new string[entries.Length];
for (var i = 0; i < entries.Length; i++)
{
var fieldInfo = value.GetType().GetField(entries[i].Trim());
var attributes = fieldInfo.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false) as DescriptionAttribute[];
description[i] = (attributes.Length > 0) ? attributes[0].Description : entries[i].Trim();
}
return String.Join(", ", description);
}
public static int GetValue(this Enum value)
{
return (int)value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString()).GetRawConstantValue();
}
public static T ToEnum<T>(this string value)
{
if (typeof(T).BaseType.Name != typeof(Enum).Name)
{
throw new Exception("Not an enum");
}
return (T)Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value, true);
}
public static T ToEnum<T>(this int value)
{
if (typeof(T).BaseType.Name != typeof(Enum).Name)
{
throw new Exception("Not an enum");
}
return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), value);
}
Now use your enums as you like.
I would go with having ISO639Code as class instead of enum:
public class ISO639Code
{
public string Value { get; set ; }
public string Code { get; set; }
public ISO639Code()
{
this.Value = "";
this.Code = "";
}
public ISO639Code(string value, string code)
: this()
{
this.Value = value;
this.Code = code;
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj != null)
{
if (obj is string)
return obj.ToString().Equals(this.Value, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);
if (obj is ISO639Code)
return ((ISO639Code)obj).Value.Equals(this.Value, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);
}
return false;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return this.Value.GetHashCode();
}
public override string ToString()
{
return this.Value;
}
}
Then have global List<ISO639Code> with all possible codes, and to find specific code based on code name or value, just search for this in the List.
Personally, I prefer this over tweaking the enum.
How do I cast an int to an enum in C#?
From an int:
YourEnum foo = (YourEnum)yourInt;
From a string:
YourEnum foo = (YourEnum) Enum.Parse(typeof(YourEnum), yourString);
// The foo.ToString().Contains(",") check is necessary for
// enumerations marked with a [Flags] attribute.
if (!Enum.IsDefined(typeof(YourEnum), foo) && !foo.ToString().Contains(","))
{
throw new InvalidOperationException(
$"{yourString} is not an underlying value of the YourEnum enumeration."
);
}
From a number:
YourEnum foo = (YourEnum)Enum.ToObject(typeof(YourEnum), yourInt);
Just cast it:
MyEnum e = (MyEnum)3;
Check if it's in range using Enum.IsDefined:
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(MyEnum), 3)) { ... }
Alternatively, use an extension method instead of a one-liner:
public static T ToEnum<T>(this string enumString)
{
return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof (T), enumString);
}
Usage:
Color colorEnum = "Red".ToEnum<Color>();
OR
string color = "Red";
var colorEnum = color.ToEnum<Color>();
I think to get a complete answer, people have to know how enums work internally in .NET.
How stuff works
An enum in .NET is a structure that maps a set of values (fields) to a basic type (the default is int). However, you can actually choose the integral type that your enum maps to:
public enum Foo : short
In this case the enum is mapped to the short data type, which means it will be stored in memory as a short and will behave as a short when you cast and use it.
If you look at it from a IL point of view, a (normal, int) enum looks like this:
.class public auto ansi serializable sealed BarFlag extends System.Enum
{
.custom instance void System.FlagsAttribute::.ctor()
.custom instance void ComVisibleAttribute::.ctor(bool) = { bool(true) }
.field public static literal valuetype BarFlag AllFlags = int32(0x3fff)
.field public static literal valuetype BarFlag Foo1 = int32(1)
.field public static literal valuetype BarFlag Foo2 = int32(0x2000)
// and so on for all flags or enum values
.field public specialname rtspecialname int32 value__
}
What should get your attention here is that the value__ is stored separately from the enum values. In the case of the enum Foo above, the type of value__ is int16. This basically means that you can store whatever you want in an enum, as long as the types match.
At this point I'd like to point out that System.Enum is a value type, which basically means that BarFlag will take up 4 bytes in memory and Foo will take up 2 -- e.g. the size of the underlying type (it's actually more complicated than that, but hey...).
The answer
So, if you have an integer that you want to map to an enum, the runtime only has to do 2 things: copy the 4 bytes and name it something else (the name of the enum). Copying is implicit because the data is stored as value type - this basically means that if you use unmanaged code, you can simply interchange enums and integers without copying data.
To make it safe, I think it's a best practice to know that the underlying types are the same or implicitly convertible and to ensure the enum values exist (they aren't checked by default!).
To see how this works, try the following code:
public enum MyEnum : int
{
Foo = 1,
Bar = 2,
Mek = 5
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var e1 = (MyEnum)5;
var e2 = (MyEnum)6;
Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", e1, e2);
Console.ReadLine();
}
Note that casting to e2 also works! From the compiler perspective above this makes sense: the value__ field is simply filled with either 5 or 6 and when Console.WriteLine calls ToString(), the name of e1 is resolved while the name of e2 is not.
If that's not what you intended, use Enum.IsDefined(typeof(MyEnum), 6) to check if the value you are casting maps to a defined enum.
Also note that I'm explicit about the underlying type of the enum, even though the compiler actually checks this. I'm doing this to ensure I don't run into any surprises down the road. To see these surprises in action, you can use the following code (actually I've seen this happen a lot in database code):
public enum MyEnum : short
{
Mek = 5
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var e1 = (MyEnum)32769; // will not compile, out of bounds for a short
object o = 5;
var e2 = (MyEnum)o; // will throw at runtime, because o is of type int
Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", e1, e2);
Console.ReadLine();
}
Take the following example:
int one = 1;
MyEnum e = (MyEnum)one;
I am using this piece of code to cast int to my enum:
if (typeof(YourEnum).IsEnumDefined(valueToCast)) return (YourEnum)valueToCast;
else { //handle it here, if its not defined }
I find it the best solution.
Below is a nice utility class for Enums
public static class EnumHelper
{
public static int[] ToIntArray<T>(T[] value)
{
int[] result = new int[value.Length];
for (int i = 0; i < value.Length; i++)
result[i] = Convert.ToInt32(value[i]);
return result;
}
public static T[] FromIntArray<T>(int[] value)
{
T[] result = new T[value.Length];
for (int i = 0; i < value.Length; i++)
result[i] = (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T),value[i]);
return result;
}
internal static T Parse<T>(string value, T defaultValue)
{
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(T), value))
return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof (T), value);
int num;
if(int.TryParse(value,out num))
{
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(T), num))
return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), num);
}
return defaultValue;
}
}
For numeric values, this is safer as it will return an object no matter what:
public static class EnumEx
{
static public bool TryConvert<T>(int value, out T result)
{
result = default(T);
bool success = Enum.IsDefined(typeof(T), value);
if (success)
{
result = (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), value);
}
return success;
}
}
If you're ready for the 4.0 .NET Framework, there's a new Enum.TryParse() function that's very useful and plays well with the [Flags] attribute. See Enum.TryParse Method (String, TEnum%)
Sometimes you have an object to the MyEnum type. Like
var MyEnumType = typeof(MyEnum);
Then:
Enum.ToObject(typeof(MyEnum), 3)
If you have an integer that acts as a bitmask and could represent one or more values in a [Flags] enumeration, you can use this code to parse the individual flag values into a list:
for (var flagIterator = 0; flagIterator < 32; flagIterator++)
{
// Determine the bit value (1,2,4,...,Int32.MinValue)
int bitValue = 1 << flagIterator;
// Check to see if the current flag exists in the bit mask
if ((intValue & bitValue) != 0)
{
// If the current flag exists in the enumeration, then we can add that value to the list
// if the enumeration has that flag defined
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(MyEnum), bitValue))
Console.WriteLine((MyEnum)bitValue);
}
}
Note that this assumes that the underlying type of the enum is a signed 32-bit integer. If it were a different numerical type, you'd have to change the hardcoded 32 to reflect the bits in that type (or programatically derive it using Enum.GetUnderlyingType())
This is an flags enumeration aware safe convert method:
public static bool TryConvertToEnum<T>(this int instance, out T result)
where T: Enum
{
var enumType = typeof (T);
var success = Enum.IsDefined(enumType, instance);
if (success)
{
result = (T)Enum.ToObject(enumType, instance);
}
else
{
result = default(T);
}
return success;
}
To convert a string to ENUM or int to ENUM constant we need to use Enum.Parse function. Here is a youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nhx4VwdRDk which actually demonstrate's with string and the same applies for int.
The code goes as shown below where "red" is the string and "MyColors" is the color ENUM which has the color constants.
MyColors EnumColors = (MyColors)Enum.Parse(typeof(MyColors), "Red");
Slightly getting away from the original question, but I found an answer to Stack Overflow question Get int value from enum useful. Create a static class with public const int properties, allowing you to easily collect together a bunch of related int constants, and then not have to cast them to int when using them.
public static class Question
{
public static readonly int Role = 2;
public static readonly int ProjectFunding = 3;
public static readonly int TotalEmployee = 4;
public static readonly int NumberOfServers = 5;
public static readonly int TopBusinessConcern = 6;
}
Obviously, some of the enum type functionality will be lost, but for storing a bunch of database id constants, it seems like a pretty tidy solution.
The following is a slightly better extension method:
public static string ToEnumString<TEnum>(this int enumValue)
{
var enumString = enumValue.ToString();
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(TEnum), enumValue))
{
enumString = ((TEnum) Enum.ToObject(typeof (TEnum), enumValue)).ToString();
}
return enumString;
}
This parses integers or strings to a target enum with partial matching in .NET 4.0 using generics like in Tawani's utility class. I am using it to convert command-line switch variables which may be incomplete. Since an enum cannot be null, you should logically provide a default value. It can be called like this:
var result = EnumParser<MyEnum>.Parse(valueToParse, MyEnum.FirstValue);
Here's the code:
using System;
public class EnumParser<T> where T : struct
{
public static T Parse(int toParse, T defaultVal)
{
return Parse(toParse + "", defaultVal);
}
public static T Parse(string toParse, T defaultVal)
{
T enumVal = defaultVal;
if (defaultVal is Enum && !String.IsNullOrEmpty(toParse))
{
int index;
if (int.TryParse(toParse, out index))
{
Enum.TryParse(index + "", out enumVal);
}
else
{
if (!Enum.TryParse<T>(toParse + "", true, out enumVal))
{
MatchPartialName(toParse, ref enumVal);
}
}
}
return enumVal;
}
public static void MatchPartialName(string toParse, ref T enumVal)
{
foreach (string member in enumVal.GetType().GetEnumNames())
{
if (member.ToLower().Contains(toParse.ToLower()))
{
if (Enum.TryParse<T>(member + "", out enumVal))
{
break;
}
}
}
}
}
FYI: The question was about integers, which nobody mentioned will also explicitly convert in Enum.TryParse()
From a string: (Enum.Parse is out of Date, use Enum.TryParse)
enum Importance
{}
Importance importance;
if (Enum.TryParse(value, out importance))
{
}
You should build in some type matching relaxation to be more robust.
public static T ToEnum<T>(dynamic value)
{
if (value == null)
{
// default value of an enum is the object that corresponds to
// the default value of its underlying type
// https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/keywords/default-values-table
value = Activator.CreateInstance(Enum.GetUnderlyingType(typeof(T)));
}
else if (value is string name)
{
return (T)Enum.Parse(typeof(T), name);
}
return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T),
Convert.ChangeType(value, Enum.GetUnderlyingType(typeof(T))));
}
Test Case
[Flags]
public enum A : uint
{
None = 0,
X = 1 < 0,
Y = 1 < 1
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var value = EnumHelper.ToEnum<A>(7m);
var x = value.HasFlag(A.X); // true
var y = value.HasFlag(A.Y); // true
var value2 = EnumHelper.ToEnum<A>("X");
var value3 = EnumHelper.ToEnum<A>(null);
Console.ReadKey();
}
Here's an extension method that casts Int32 to Enum.
It honors bitwise flags even when the value is higher than the maximum possible. For example if you have an enum with possibilities 1, 2, and 4, but the int is 9, it understands that as 1 in absence of an 8. This lets you make data updates ahead of code updates.
public static TEnum ToEnum<TEnum>(this int val) where TEnum : struct, IComparable, IFormattable, IConvertible
{
if (!typeof(TEnum).IsEnum)
{
return default(TEnum);
}
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(TEnum), val))
{//if a straightforward single value, return that
return (TEnum)Enum.ToObject(typeof(TEnum), val);
}
var candidates = Enum
.GetValues(typeof(TEnum))
.Cast<int>()
.ToList();
var isBitwise = candidates
.Select((n, i) => {
if (i < 2) return n == 0 || n == 1;
return n / 2 == candidates[i - 1];
})
.All(y => y);
var maxPossible = candidates.Sum();
if (
Enum.TryParse(val.ToString(), out TEnum asEnum)
&& (val <= maxPossible || !isBitwise)
){//if it can be parsed as a bitwise enum with multiple flags,
//or is not bitwise, return the result of TryParse
return asEnum;
}
//If the value is higher than all possible combinations,
//remove the high imaginary values not accounted for in the enum
var excess = Enumerable
.Range(0, 32)
.Select(n => (int)Math.Pow(2, n))
.Where(n => n <= val && n > 0 && !candidates.Contains(n))
.Sum();
return Enum.TryParse((val - excess).ToString(), out asEnum) ? asEnum : default(TEnum);
}
The easy and clear way for casting an int to enum in C#:
public class Program
{
public enum Color : int
{
Blue = 0,
Black = 1,
Green = 2,
Gray = 3,
Yellow = 4
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
// From string
Console.WriteLine((Color) Enum.Parse(typeof(Color), "Green"));
// From int
Console.WriteLine((Color)2);
// From number you can also
Console.WriteLine((Color)Enum.ToObject(typeof(Color), 2));
}
}
For string, you can do the following:
var result = Enum.TryParse(typeof(MyEnum), yourString, out yourEnum)
And make sure to check the result to determine if the conversion failed.
For int, you can do the following:
MyEnum someValue = (MyEnum)myIntValue;
In my case, I needed to return the enum from a WCF service. I also needed a friendly name, not just the enum.ToString().
Here's my WCF Class.
[DataContract]
public class EnumMember
{
[DataMember]
public string Description { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public int Value { get; set; }
public static List<EnumMember> ConvertToList<T>()
{
Type type = typeof(T);
if (!type.IsEnum)
{
throw new ArgumentException("T must be of type enumeration.");
}
var members = new List<EnumMember>();
foreach (string item in System.Enum.GetNames(type))
{
var enumType = System.Enum.Parse(type, item);
members.Add(
new EnumMember() { Description = enumType.GetDescriptionValue(), Value = ((IConvertible)enumType).ToInt32(null) });
}
return members;
}
}
Here's the Extension method that gets the Description from the Enum.
public static string GetDescriptionValue<T>(this T source)
{
FieldInfo fileInfo = source.GetType().GetField(source.ToString());
DescriptionAttribute[] attributes = (DescriptionAttribute[])fileInfo.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
if (attributes != null && attributes.Length > 0)
{
return attributes[0].Description;
}
else
{
return source.ToString();
}
}
Implementation:
return EnumMember.ConvertToList<YourType>();
It can help you to convert any input data to user desired enum. Suppose you have an enum like below which by default int. Please add a Default value at first of your enum. Which is used at helpers medthod when there is no match found with input value.
public enum FriendType
{
Default,
Audio,
Video,
Image
}
public static class EnumHelper<T>
{
public static T ConvertToEnum(dynamic value)
{
var result = default(T);
var tempType = 0;
//see Note below
if (value != null &&
int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out tempType) &&
Enum.IsDefined(typeof(T), tempType))
{
result = (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), tempType);
}
return result;
}
}
N.B: Here I try to parse value into int, because enum is by default int
If you define enum like this which is byte type.
public enum MediaType : byte
{
Default,
Audio,
Video,
Image
}
You need to change parsing at helper method from
int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out tempType)
to
byte.TryParse(value.ToString(), out tempType)
I check my method for following inputs
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum(null);
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum("");
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum("-1");
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum("6");
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum("");
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum("2");
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum(-1);
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum(0);
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum(1);
EnumHelper<FriendType>.ConvertToEnum(9);
sorry for my english
Different ways to cast to and from Enum
enum orientation : byte
{
north = 1,
south = 2,
east = 3,
west = 4
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
orientation myDirection = orientation.north;
Console.WriteLine(“myDirection = {0}”, myDirection); //output myDirection =north
Console.WriteLine((byte)myDirection); //output 1
string strDir = Convert.ToString(myDirection);
Console.WriteLine(strDir); //output north
string myString = “north”; //to convert string to Enum
myDirection = (orientation)Enum.Parse(typeof(orientation),myString);
}
}
I don't know anymore where I get the part of this enum extension, but it is from stackoverflow. I am sorry for this! But I took this one and modified it for enums with Flags.
For enums with Flags I did this:
public static class Enum<T> where T : struct
{
private static readonly IEnumerable<T> All = Enum.GetValues(typeof (T)).Cast<T>();
private static readonly Dictionary<int, T> Values = All.ToDictionary(k => Convert.ToInt32(k));
public static T? CastOrNull(int value)
{
T foundValue;
if (Values.TryGetValue(value, out foundValue))
{
return foundValue;
}
// For enums with Flags-Attribut.
try
{
bool isFlag = typeof(T).GetCustomAttributes(typeof(FlagsAttribute), false).Length > 0;
if (isFlag)
{
int existingIntValue = 0;
foreach (T t in Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)))
{
if ((value & Convert.ToInt32(t)) > 0)
{
existingIntValue |= Convert.ToInt32(t);
}
}
if (existingIntValue == 0)
{
return null;
}
return (T)(Enum.Parse(typeof(T), existingIntValue.ToString(), true));
}
}
catch (Exception)
{
return null;
}
return null;
}
}
Example:
[Flags]
public enum PetType
{
None = 0, Dog = 1, Cat = 2, Fish = 4, Bird = 8, Reptile = 16, Other = 32
};
integer values
1=Dog;
13= Dog | Fish | Bird;
96= Other;
128= Null;
You simply use Explicit conversion Cast int to enum or enum to int
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine((int)Number.three); //Output=3
Console.WriteLine((Number)3);// Outout three
Console.Read();
}
public enum Number
{
Zero = 0,
One = 1,
Two = 2,
three = 3
}
}
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
namespace SamplePrograme
{
public class Program
{
public enum Suit : int
{
Spades = 0,
Hearts = 1,
Clubs = 2,
Diamonds = 3
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
//from string
Console.WriteLine((Suit) Enum.Parse(typeof(Suit), "Clubs"));
//from int
Console.WriteLine((Suit)1);
//From number you can also
Console.WriteLine((Suit)Enum.ToObject(typeof(Suit) ,1));
}
}
}
I prefer a short way using a nullable enum type variable.
var enumValue = (MyEnum?)enumInt;
if (!enumValue.HasValue)
{
throw new ArgumentException(nameof(enumValue));
}
You just do like below:
int intToCast = 1;
TargetEnum f = (TargetEnum) intToCast ;
To make sure that you only cast the right values and that you can throw an exception otherwise:
int intToCast = 1;
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(TargetEnum), intToCast ))
{
TargetEnum target = (TargetEnum)intToCast ;
}
else
{
// Throw your exception.
}
Note that using IsDefined is costly and even more than just casting, so it depends on your implementation to decide to use it or not.
You can use an extension method.
public static class Extensions
{
public static T ToEnum<T>(this string data) where T : struct
{
if (!Enum.TryParse(data, true, out T enumVariable))
{
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(T), enumVariable))
{
return enumVariable;
}
}
return default;
}
public static T ToEnum<T>(this int data) where T : struct
{
return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), data);
}
}
Use it like the below code:
Enum:
public enum DaysOfWeeks
{
Monday = 1,
Tuesday = 2,
Wednesday = 3,
Thursday = 4,
Friday = 5,
Saturday = 6,
Sunday = 7,
}
Usage:
string Monday = "Mon";
int Wednesday = 3;
var Mon = Monday.ToEnum<DaysOfWeeks>();
var Wed = Wednesday.ToEnum<DaysOfWeeks>();