[Beginning Database Design Solutions, Second Edition]

Title: Convert enum values to and from strings in C#

[Convert enum values to and from strings in C#]

The System.Enum class provides several methods that convert enum values to and from strings. Some particularly useful methods include:

GetName	Returns the string name of an enum value.
GetNames	Returns an array of strings holding the names of an enum's values.
GetValues	Returns an array an enum's values.
IsDefined	Returns true if a particular value is defined by an enum.
Parse	Parses a string and returns the corresponding enum value.

This example uses the following code to demonstrate the GetNames and Parse methods.

// The enumerated type. private enum MealType { Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Luncheon = Lunch, Tiffin = Lunch, Tea, Nuncheon = Tea, Dinner, Supper } // Convert values to and from strings. private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { foreach (string value in Enum.GetNames(typeof(MealType))) { // Get the enumeration's value. MealType meal = (MealType)Enum.Parse(typeof(MealType), value); // Display the values. lstStringValues.Items.Add((int)meal + "\t" + value); } }

The code uses Enum.GetNames to get strings representing the MealType values. For each of those strings, it uses Enum.Parse to convert the string into a MealType value. It then displays the value as an integer and in its string form.

Download the example to experiment with it and to see additional details.