Enum: need to get the name of the enum, not its int value, as a string

Question

I have an enum with a whole bunch of values (only three shown here):

public enum LookupType
{
   Alignment,
   Language,
   ReEmbedBehavior
}

I then have a method that gets data based on a varchar field called LookupType...what I want is to limit callers of this method to only the lookuptypes that are in the database...so at the end of my WHERE clause, I want the enum name as a string, not the integer value of it.

Callers would then do something like GetLookupsByLookupType(LookupType.Language) and my method would make the call as "where lookuptype = 'Language'"

public List<Lookup> GetLookupsByLookupType(UnicornMedia.Core.DomainModel.Enumerations.LookupType lookupType)
        {
            var lookups = new List<Lookup>();
            string SQL = String.Format(@"Select id, name, value, lookuptype
                                         from lookups
                                         where lookuptype = '{0}'", lookupType.ToString());

            ...<snip>...                                         
        }

It's probably something simple but I seem to bump into this from time to time and instead of figuring it out, I end up just using a Dictionary...anyway, there it is, thanks

no I'm not sure but as it happens I'm not going to be able to debug or test before I check this in so I need to make sure I get it right — J Benjamin, Dec 03 '10 at 22:20
not test or debug before you check it in? that doesn't sound right at all.... — F.B. ten Kate, Dec 03 '10 at 22:23
thanks all! Feel kinda dumb that I didn't think of just testing it in a console app...live and learn tho, get smarter every day :) — J Benjamin, Dec 03 '10 at 22:46
@JBenjamin, but beware that this can bite you badly if your ToString is not in the same assembly as your enum (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/194484/whats-the-strangest-corner-case-youve-seen-in-c-or-net/311831#311831) — Benjol, Dec 03 '10 at 22:57
Check out some tool like SnippetCompiler (http://www.sliver.com/dotnet/SnippetCompiler/) - lets you take a short snippet of C# and try it out without all the overhead of Visual Studio! Absolutely priceless... — marc_s, Dec 04 '10 at 09:00

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:17

8

Simply doing a .ToString() will get you the enum name as a string value.

answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:17

F.B. ten Kate

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Patrick · Answer 2 · 2010-12-03T22:25:41.737

2

Have you tried Enum.GetName?

Actually, the following snippet shows that simply calling ToString works as well.

enum LookupType {
    Language
}
public class Program {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
        string str = string.Format("{0}", LookupType.Language);
        // str = "Language"
        Console.WriteLine(LookupType.Language);
        // output: Language
    }
}

edited Dec 03 '10 at 22:25

answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:17

Patrick

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:17

2

Try the following

string name = System.Enum.GetName(typeof(LookupType), LookupType.Language);

answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:17

JaredPar

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:18

1

You can use the GetName method (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.enum.getname.aspx):

Enum.GetName(typeof(LookupType), lookupType);

answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:18

Evan Mulawski

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:21

1

You do not need GetName...

LookupType.Alignment.ToString();

or

just as you have it in your code...

lookupType.ToString()

answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:21

Aaron McIver

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 03 '10 at 22:26

Your code should work just fine. I ran the following and the string returned the expected results.

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        LookupType lookupType = LookupType.Language;

        Console.WriteLine(GetLookupsByLookupType(lookupType));

        Console.Read();
    }

    public static string GetLookupsByLookupType(LookupType lookupType)
    {
        string SQL = String.Format(@"Select id, name, value, lookuptype from lookups where lookuptype = '{0}'", lookupType.ToString());

        return SQL;                  
    }

}

public enum LookupType
{
    Alignment,
    Language,
    ReEmbedBehavior
}

Make sure you are not passing your SQL string as you have it displayed above. Either put the string together on one line, or use the following:

        string SQL = String.Format(@"Select id, name, value, lookuptype from " + 
            "lookups where lookuptype = '{0}'", lookupType.ToString());

Enum: need to get the name of the enum, not its int value, as a string

6 Answers6