Enums C# Example

What is enum in C# .Net (Enumerator)

In this tutorial we learn about enum in C#
Enum is a value type in .net data type, Enum is an abstract class that has some static methods to work with enum. Before we see some enum example, let's take a look at the methods of System.Enum.

C# enum Methods

• GetName

  Gets the name of the constant in the specified enumeration

• GetNames

  Returns a string array of constant names

• GetValues

  Returns an array of constant values

Create a enum C# Example

This is how you can create a enum in C#, you can declare a enum as protected, private, public

enum EventState
{
    Initiated = 1,
    Started = 2,
    Closed = 3,
    Canceled = 4
}

Enum GetNames Example
Here we see how to use enum (enumeration) in our c# code

foreach (string str in Enum.GetNames(typeof(EventState)))
{
    Console.WriteLine(str);
}

foreach (int i in Enum.GetValues(typeof(EventState)))
{
    Console.WriteLine(i);
}

//this will print the number 2
Console.WriteLine((int)EventState.Started);
            
// this will print string "Started"
Console.WriteLine(EventState.Started);
}

C# Enum Array Example

You can define a enum in c# as Array Index

enum ColorSignal
{
    red,
    white,
    blue,
    green,
    yellow,
    orange,
    grey
}

Now we write an C# program with an array that is indexed with enum values. here you notice how to cast an enum to an int.

void EnumTest()
{
    int[] _array = new int[(int)ColorSignal.white];            
}

Iterate a enum c#

we can iterate or loop through an enum items using foreach loop or for loop, take a look at example below

foreach (string s in Enum.GetNames(typeof(ColorSignal)))
    {
        Console.WriteLine(s);
    }

Read value from enum in c#

we can also read value from enum like this way

Console.WriteLine(ColorSignal.green);
// this will print string value - green

Console.WriteLine((int)ColorSignal.green);
// this will print int value - 3

enum c# as parameter

we can pass C# enum as parameter in any method, and we can that enum as string, also can get the enum integer value, take a look at the example below.

public  void AddColor(ColorSignal color)
{
    Console.WriteLine(color.ToString()); // orange

    Console.WriteLine(color); // orange

    Console.WriteLine((int)color); // 6
}

// call the method and pass enum as parameter
AddColor(ColorSignal.orange);

You may also check How to convert enum to generic list type