Get int value from enum in C#
Just cast the enum, e.g.
int something = (int) Question.Role;
The above will work for the vast majority of enums you see in the wild, as the default underlying type for an enum is int
.
However, as cecilphillip points out, enums can have different underlying types.
If an enum is declared as a uint
, long
, or ulong
, it should be cast to the type of the enum; e.g. for
enum StarsInMilkyWay:long {Sun = 1, V645Centauri = 2 .. Wolf424B = 2147483649};
you should use
long something = (long)StarsInMilkyWay.Wolf424B;
Since Enums can be any integral type (byte
, int
, short
, etc.), a more robust way to get the underlying integral value of the enum would be to make use of the GetTypeCode
method in conjunction with the Convert
class:
enum Sides {
Left, Right, Top, Bottom
}
Sides side = Sides.Bottom;
object val = Convert.ChangeType(side, side.GetTypeCode());
Console.WriteLine(val);
This should work regardless of the underlying integral type.
Declare it as a static class having public constants:
public static class Question
{
public const int Role = 2;
public const int ProjectFunding = 3;
public const int TotalEmployee = 4;
public const int NumberOfServers = 5;
public const int TopBusinessConcern = 6;
}
And then you can reference it as Question.Role
, and it always evaluates to an int
or whatever you define it as.