How to get C# Enum description from value?

int value = 1;
string description = Enumerations.GetEnumDescription((MyEnum)value);

The default underlying data type for an enum in C# is an int, you can just cast it.


Update

The Unconstrained Melody library is no longer maintained; Support was dropped in favour of Enums.NET.

In Enums.NET you'd use:

string description = ((MyEnum)value).AsString(EnumFormat.Description);

Original post

I implemented this in a generic, type-safe way in Unconstrained Melody - you'd use:

string description = Enums.GetDescription((MyEnum)value);

This:

  • Ensures (with generic type constraints) that the value really is an enum value
  • Avoids the boxing in your current solution
  • Caches all the descriptions to avoid using reflection on every call
  • Has a bunch of other methods, including the ability to parse the value from the description

I realise the core answer was just the cast from an int to MyEnum, but if you're doing a lot of enum work it's worth thinking about using Unconstrained Melody :)


I put the code together from the accepted answer in a generic extension method, so it could be used for all kinds of objects:

public static string DescriptionAttr<T>(this T source)
{
    FieldInfo fi = source.GetType().GetField(source.ToString());

    DescriptionAttribute[] attributes = (DescriptionAttribute[])fi.GetCustomAttributes(
        typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);

    if (attributes != null && attributes.Length > 0) return attributes[0].Description;
    else return source.ToString();
}

Using an enum like in the original post, or any other class whose property is decorated with the Description attribute, the code can be consumed like this:

string enumDesc = MyEnum.HereIsAnother.DescriptionAttr();
string classDesc = myInstance.SomeProperty.DescriptionAttr();

Tags:

C#

Enums

Recent Posts