Is there a better way to create a generic convert string to enum method or enum extension?
- by Kelsey
I have the following methods in an enum helper class (I have simplified it for the purpose of the question):
static class EnumHelper
{
public enum EnumType1 : int
{
Unknown = 0,
Yes = 1,
No = 2
}
public enum EnumType2 : int
{
Unknown = 0,
Dog = 1,
Cat = 2,
Bird = 3
}
public enum EnumType3 : int
{
Unknown = 0,
iPhone = 1,
Andriod = 2,
WindowsPhone7 = 3,
Palm = 4
}
public static EnumType1 ConvertToEnumType1(string value)
{
return (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) ?
EnumType1.Unknown :
(EnumType1)(Enum.Parse(typeof(EnumType1), value, true));
}
public static EnumType2 ConvertToEnumType2(string value)
{
return (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) ?
EnumType2.Unknown :
(EnumType2)(Enum.Parse(typeof(EnumType2), value, true));
}
public static EnumType3 ConvertToEnumType3(string value)
{
return (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) ?
EnumType3.Unknown :
(EnumType3)(Enum.Parse(typeof(EnumType3), value, true));
}
}
So the question here is, can I trim this down to an Enum extension method or maybe some type of single method that can handle any type. I have found some examples to do so with basic enums but the difference in my example is all the enums have the Unknown item that I need returned if the string is null or empty (if no match is found I want it to fail).
Looking for something like the following maybe:
EnumType1 value = EnumType1.Convert("Yes");
// or
EnumType1 value = EnumHelper.Convert(EnumType1, "Yes");
One function to do it all... how to handle the Unknown element is the part that I am hung up on.
