Enum ToString with user friendly strings
I do this with extension methods:
public enum ErrorLevel
{
None,
Low,
High,
SoylentGreen
}
public static class ErrorLevelExtensions
{
public static string ToFriendlyString(this ErrorLevel me)
{
switch(me)
{
case ErrorLevel.None:
return "Everything is OK";
case ErrorLevel.Low:
return "SNAFU, if you know what I mean.";
case ErrorLevel.High:
return "Reaching TARFU levels";
case ErrorLevel.SoylentGreen:
return "ITS PEOPLE!!!!";
default:
return "Get your damn dirty hands off me you FILTHY APE!";
}
}
}
I use the Description
attribute from the System.ComponentModel namespace. Simply decorate the enum:
private enum PublishStatusValue
{
[Description("Not Completed")]
NotCompleted,
Completed,
Error
};
Then use this code to retrieve it:
public static string GetDescription<T>(this T enumerationValue)
where T : struct
{
Type type = enumerationValue.GetType();
if (!type.IsEnum)
{
throw new ArgumentException("EnumerationValue must be of Enum type", "enumerationValue");
}
//Tries to find a DescriptionAttribute for a potential friendly name
//for the enum
MemberInfo[] memberInfo = type.GetMember(enumerationValue.ToString());
if (memberInfo != null && memberInfo.Length > 0)
{
object[] attrs = memberInfo[0].GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
if (attrs != null && attrs.Length > 0)
{
//Pull out the description value
return ((DescriptionAttribute)attrs[0]).Description;
}
}
//If we have no description attribute, just return the ToString of the enum
return enumerationValue.ToString();
}