How to get the Display Name Attribute of an Enum member via MVC Razor code

Question

I ve got a property in my model called Promotion that its type is a flag enum called UserPromotion  Members of my enum have display attributes set as follows   Flags  public enum UserPromotion       None   0x0        Display Name    quot Send Job Offers By Mail quot        SendJobOffersByMail   0x1        Display Name    quot Send Job Offers By Sms quot        SendJobOffersBySms   0x2        Display Name    quot Send Other Stuff By Sms quot        SendPromotionalBySms   0x4        Display Name    quot Send Other Stuff By Mail quot        SendPromotionalByMail   0x8    Now I want to be able to create say a ul in my view to show the selected values of my Promotion property  This is what I have done so far but the problem is that how can I get the display names here   lt ul gt       foreach  int aPromotion in  Enum GetValues typeof UserPromotion                  var currentPromotion    int Model JobSeeker Promotion          if   currentPromotion  amp  aPromotion     aPromotion                     lt li gt Here I don t know how to get the display attribute of  quot currentPromotion quot   lt  li gt                   lt  ul gt

User · Answer

combining all edge-cases together from above:

enum members with base object members' names (Equals, ToString)
optional Display attribute

here is my code:

public enum Enum
{
    [Display(Name = "What a weird name!")]
    ToString,

    Equals
}

public static class EnumHelpers
{
    public static string GetDisplayName(this Enum enumValue)
    {
        var enumType = enumValue.GetType();

        return enumType
                .GetMember(enumValue.ToString())
                .Where(x => x.MemberType == MemberTypes.Field && ((FieldInfo)x).FieldType == enumType)
                .First()
                .GetCustomAttribute<DisplayAttribute>()?.Name ?? enumValue.ToString();
    }
}

void Main()
{
    Assert.Equals("What a weird name!", Enum.ToString.GetDisplayName());
    Assert.Equals("Equals", Enum.Equals.GetDisplayName());
}

User · Answer

For ASP Net Core 3 0  this worked for me  credit to previous answerers    My Enum class   using System  using System Linq  using System ComponentModel DataAnnotations  using System Reflection   public class Enums       public enum Duration                 Display Name    1 Hour            OneHour           Display Name    1 Day            OneDay               Helper method to display the name of the enum values      public static string GetDisplayName Enum value                return value GetType            GetMember value ToString     First            GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt             Name            My View Model Class   public class MyViewModel       public Duration Duration   get  set        An example of a razor view displaying a label and a drop-down list  Notice the drop-down list does not require a helper method    model IEnumerable lt MyViewModel gt     foreach  var item in Model         lt label asp-for   item Duration  gt  Enums GetDisplayName item Duration  lt  label gt       lt div class  form-group  gt           lt label asp-for   item Duration  class  control-label  gt Select Duration lt  label gt           lt select asp-for   item Duration  class  form-control              asp-items  Html GetEnumSelectList lt Enums Duration gt     gt           lt  select gt       lt  div gt

User · Answer

Building further on Aydin s and Todd s answers  here is an extension method that also lets you get the name from a resource file  using AppResources  using System  using System ComponentModel DataAnnotations  using System Linq  using System Reflection  using System Resources   public static class EnumExtensions       public static string GetDisplayName this Enum enumValue                var enumMember  enumValue GetType                            GetMember enumValue ToString              DisplayAttribute displayAttrib   null          if  enumMember Any                  displayAttrib   enumMember                           First                            GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt                        string name   null          Type resource   null           if  displayAttrib    null                        name   displayAttrib Name              resource   displayAttrib ResourceType                     return String IsNullOrEmpty name    enumValue ToString                 resource    null    name               new ResourceManager resource  GetString name             and use it like  public enum Season         Display ResourceType   typeof Resource   Name   Season Summer        Summer

User · Answer

UPDATE First solution was focused on getting display names from enum  Code below should be exact solution for your problem  You can use this helper class for enums  using System  using System Collections Generic  using System ComponentModel DataAnnotations  using System Linq  using System Reflection   public static class EnumHelper lt T gt      where T   struct  Enum    This constraint requires C  7 3 or later        public static IList lt T gt  GetValues Enum value                var enumValues   new List lt T gt              foreach  FieldInfo fi in value GetType   GetFields BindingFlags Static   BindingFlags Public                         enumValues Add  T Enum Parse value GetType    fi Name  false                      return enumValues             public static T Parse string value                return  T Enum Parse typeof T   value  true              public static IList lt string gt  GetNames Enum value                return value GetType   GetFields BindingFlags Static   BindingFlags Public  Select fi   gt  fi Name  ToList               public static IList lt string gt  GetDisplayValues Enum value                return GetNames value  Select obj   gt  GetDisplayValue Parse obj    ToList               private static string lookupResource Type resourceManagerProvider  string resourceKey                foreach  PropertyInfo staticProperty in resourceManagerProvider GetProperties BindingFlags Static   BindingFlags NonPublic   BindingFlags Public                         if  staticProperty PropertyType    typeof System Resources ResourceManager                                 System Resources ResourceManager resourceManager    System Resources ResourceManager staticProperty GetValue null  null                   return resourceManager GetString resourceKey                                    return resourceKey     Fallback with the key name            public static string GetDisplayValue T value                var fieldInfo   value GetType   GetField value ToString              var descriptionAttributes   fieldInfo GetCustomAttributes              typeof DisplayAttribute   false  as DisplayAttribute             if  descriptionAttributes 0  ResourceType    null              return lookupResource descriptionAttributes 0  ResourceType  descriptionAttributes 0  Name            if  descriptionAttributes    null  return string Empty          return  descriptionAttributes Length  gt  0    descriptionAttributes 0  Name   value ToString             And then you can use it in your view as following   lt ul gt       foreach  var value in  EnumHelper lt UserPromotion gt  GetValues UserPromotion None                  if  value    Model JobSeeker Promotion                        var description   EnumHelper lt UserPromotion gt  GetDisplayValue value                lt li gt  Html DisplayFor e   gt  description   lt  li gt                   lt  ul gt   Hope it helps

User · Answer

In  NET5  I used DisplayTextFor without needing helper or extension methods   Html DisplayTextFor m   gt  m SomeEnumProperty   Where SomeEnumProperty has a value of  public enum MyEnum        Display Name    quot Not started quot        NotStarted   0       Display Name    quot Weird display name instead of just  Started  quot        Started   1

User · Answer

Based on Aydin s answer I would suggest a less  quot duplicatious quot  implementation  because we could easily get the Type from the Enum value itself  instead of providing it as a parameter   using System  using System ComponentModel DataAnnotations  using System Linq  using System Reflection   public static string GetDisplayName this Enum enumValue        return enumValue GetType   GetMember enumValue ToString                        First                       GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt                        Name     EDIT  based upon  Vahagn Nahapetyan s comment  public static string GetDisplayName this Enum enumValue        return enumValue GetType                         GetMember enumValue ToString                          First                         GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt                          Name     Now we can use it very clean in this way  public enum Season         Display Name    quot The Autumn quot        Autumn        Display Name    quot The Weather quot        Winter        Display Name    quot The Tease quot        Spring        Display Name    quot The Dream quot        Summer    Season Summer GetDisplayName     Which results in   quot The Dream quot

User · Answer

You need to use a bit of reflection in order to access that attribute   var type   typeof UserPromotion   var member   type GetMember Model JobSeeker Promotion ToString     var attributes   member 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DisplayAttribute   false   var name     DisplayAttribute attributes 0   Name    I recommend wrapping this method in a extension method or perform this in a view model

User · Answer

I m sorry to do this  but I couldn t use any of the other answers as-is and haven t time to duke it out in the comments   Uses C  6 syntax   static class EnumExtensions           returns the localized Name  if a  Display Name  Localised Name    attribute is applied to the enum member         returns null if there isnt an attribute     public static string DisplayNameOrEnumName this Enum value           gt  value DisplayNameOrDefault      value ToString                    More efficient form of   based on http   stackoverflow com a 17034624 11635         var enumType   value GetType            var enumMemberName   Enum GetName enumType  value           return enumType              GetEnumMemberAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt  enumMemberName                GetName      Potentially localized                enumMemberName     Or fall back to the enum name                returns the localized Name  if a  Display  attribute is applied to the enum member         returns null if there is no attribute     public static string DisplayNameOrDefault this Enum value    gt          value GetEnumMemberAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt     GetName         static TAttribute GetEnumMemberAttribute lt TAttribute gt  this Enum value  where TAttribute   Attribute   gt          value GetType   GetEnumMemberAttribute lt TAttribute gt  value ToString          static TAttribute GetEnumMemberAttribute lt TAttribute gt  this Type enumType  string enumMemberName  where TAttribute   Attribute   gt          enumType GetMember enumMemberName  Single   GetCustomAttribute lt TAttribute gt

User · Answer

lt ul gt       foreach  int aPromotion in  Enum GetValues typeof UserPromotion                  var currentPromotion    int Model JobSeeker Promotion          if   currentPromotion  amp  aPromotion     aPromotion                     lt li gt  Html DisplayFor e   gt  currentPromotion  lt  li gt                   lt  ul gt

User · Answer

2020 Update  An updated version of the function provided by many in this thread but now for C  7 3 onwards    Now you can restrict generic methods to enums types so you can write a single method extension to use it with all your enums like this   The generic extension method   public static string ATexto lt T gt  this T enumeraci  n  where T   struct  Enum       var tipo   enumeraci  n GetType        return tipo GetMember enumeraci  n ToString         Where x   gt  x MemberType    MemberTypes Field  amp  amp    FieldInfo x  FieldType    tipo  First        GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt     Name    enumeraci  n ToString         The enum   public enum TipoImpuesto    IVA  INC   Display Name    IVA e INC   IVAeINC   Display Name    No aplica   NoAplica      How to use it   var tipoImpuesto   TipoImpuesto IVAeINC  var textoTipoImpuesto   tipoImpuesto ATexto       Prints  IVA e INC     Bonus  Enums with Flags  If you are dealing with normal enums the function above is enough  but if any of your enums can take multiple values with the use of flags then you will need to modify it like this  This code uses C 8 features        public static string ATexto lt T gt  this T enumeraci  n  where T   struct  Enum            var tipo   enumeraci  n GetType            var textoDirecto   enumeraci  n ToString             string obtenerTexto string textoDirecto    gt  tipo GetMember textoDirecto               Where x   gt  x MemberType    MemberTypes Field  amp  amp    FieldInfo x  FieldType    tipo               First   GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt     Name    textoDirecto           if  textoDirecto Contains                       var texto   new StringBuilder                foreach  var textoDirectoAux in textoDirecto Split                          texto Append    obtenerTexto textoDirectoAux                                  return texto ToString   0   2              else               return obtenerTexto textoDirecto                       The enum with flags    Flags  public enum TipoContribuyente        Display Name    Com  n    Com  n   1        Display Name    Gran Contribuyente    GranContribuyente   2       Autorretenedor   4        Display Name    Retenedor de IVA    RetenedorIVA   8        Display Name    R  gimen Simple    R  gimenSimple   16      How to use it   var tipoContribuyente   TipoContribuyente RetenedorIVA   TipoContribuyente GranContribuyente  var textoAux   tipoContribuyente ATexto       Prints  Gran Contribuyente  Retenedor de IVA

User · Answer

Building on Todd s great answer which built on Aydin s great answer  here s a generic extension method which doesn t require any type parameters       lt summary gt      Gets human-readable version of enum       lt  summary gt       lt returns gt effective DisplayAttribute Name of given enum  lt  returns gt  public static string GetDisplayName lt T gt  this T enumValue  where T   IComparable  IFormattable  IConvertible       if   typeof T  IsEnum          throw new ArgumentException  quot Argument must be of type Enum quot         DisplayAttribute displayAttribute   enumValue GetType                                                     GetMember enumValue ToString                                                      First                                                     GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt          string displayName   displayAttribute  GetName         return displayName    enumValue ToString       I needed this for my project because something like the below code  where not every member of the enum has a DisplayAttribute  does not work with Todd s solution  public class MyClass       public enum MyEnum                 Display Name  quot ONE quot            One             No DisplayAttribute         Two           public void UseMyEnum                 MyEnum foo   MyEnum One          MyEnum bar   MyEnum Two          Console WriteLine foo GetDisplayName             Console WriteLine bar GetDisplayName                Output        ONE    Two  If this is a complicated solution to a simple problem  please let me know  but this was the fix I used

User · Answer

You could use Type GetMember Method  then get the attribute info using reflection      display attribute of  currentPromotion   var type   typeof UserPromotion   var memberInfo   type GetMember currentPromotion ToString     var attributes   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DisplayAttribute   false   var description     DisplayAttribute attributes 0   Name    There were a few similar posts here   Getting attributes of Enum  39 s value  How to make MVC3 DisplayFor show the value of an Enum  39 s Display-Attribute

User · Answer

I have two solutions for this Question         The first solution is on getting display names from enum       public enum CourseLocationTypes        Display Name    On Campus        OnCampus       Display Name    Online        Online       Display Name    Both        Both    public static string DisplayName this Enum value        Type enumType   value GetType        string enumValue   Enum GetName enumType  value       MemberInfo member   enumType GetMember enumValue  0        object   attrs   member GetCustomAttributes typeof DisplayAttribute   false       string outString     DisplayAttribute attrs 0   Name       if    DisplayAttribute attrs 0   ResourceType    null                outString     DisplayAttribute attrs 0   GetName               return outString       lt h3 class  product-title white  gt  Model CourseLocationType DisplayName   lt  h3 gt            The second Solution is on getting display name from enum name but that will be enum split in developer language it s called patch       public static string SplitOnCapitals this string text            var r   new Regex                   lt   A-Z      A-Z  a-z                     lt    A-Z      A-Z                     lt   A-Za-z       A-Za-z     RegexOptions IgnorePatternWhitespace            return r Replace text              lt div class  widget-box pt-0  gt        foreach  var item in Enum GetNames typeof CourseLocationType                     lt label class  pr-2 pt-1  gt                Html RadioButtonFor x   gt  x CourseLocationType  item  new   type    radio    class    iCheckBox control-label     amp nbsp   item SplitOnCapitals             lt  label gt               Html ValidationMessageFor x   gt  x CourseLocationType    lt  div gt

User · Answer

If you are using MVC 5 1 or upper there is simplier and clearer way  just use data annotation  from System ComponentModel DataAnnotations namespace  like below   public enum Color        Display Name    Dark red        DarkRed       Display Name    Very dark red        VeryDarkRed       Display Name    Red or just black         ReallyDarkRed     And in view  just put it into proper html helper    Html EnumDropDownListFor model   gt  model Color

User · Answer

I want to contribute with culture-dependent GetDisplayName enum extension  Hope this will be usefull for anyone googling this answer like me previously    standart  way as Aydin Adn and Todd mentioned       public static string GetDisplayName this Enum enumValue                return enumValue              GetType                GetMember enumValue ToString                 First                GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt                 GetName             Culture-dependent  way       public static string GetDisplayName this Enum enumValue  CultureInfo ci                var displayAttr   enumValue              GetType                GetMember enumValue ToString                 First                GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt              var resMan   displayAttr ResourceType  GetProperty   ResourceManager   BindingFlags Static   BindingFlags Public   BindingFlags NonPublic  GetValue null  null  as ResourceManager           return resMan  GetString displayAttr Name  ci     displayAttr GetName

User · Answer

Building on Aydin s great answer  here s an extension method that doesn t require any type parameters   using System  using System ComponentModel DataAnnotations  using System Linq  using System Reflection   public static class EnumExtensions       public static string GetDisplayName this Enum enumValue                return enumValue GetType                            GetMember enumValue ToString                             First                            GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt                             GetName              NOTE  GetName   should be used instead of the Name property  This ensures that the localized string will be returned if using the ResourceType attribute property   Example  To use it  just reference the enum value in your view          UserPromotion promo   UserPromotion SendJobOffersByMail     Promotion   promo GetDisplayName     Output  Promotion  Send Job Offers By Mail

User · Answer

With Core 2 1   public static string GetDisplayName Enum enumValue      return enumValue GetType      GetMember enumValue ToString     0     GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt       Name

User · Answer

It is maybe cheating  but it s works    foreach  var yourEnum in Html GetEnumSelectList lt YourEnum gt              yourEnum Text

User · Answer

One liner - Fluent syntax  public static class Extensions            lt summary gt              A generic extension method that aids in reflecting              and retrieving any attribute that is applied to an  Enum            lt  summary gt      public static TAttribute GetAttribute lt TAttribute gt  this Enum enumValue               where TAttribute   Attribute               return enumValue GetType                            GetMember enumValue ToString                             First                            GetCustomAttribute lt TAttribute gt                 Example  public enum Season        Display Name    It s autumn       Autumn       Display Name    It s winter       Winter       Display Name    It s spring       Spring       Display Name    It s summer       Summer    public class Foo        public Season Season   Season Summer       public void DisplayName                 var seasonDisplayName   Season GetAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt             Console WriteLine  Which season is it             Console WriteLine  seasonDisplayName Name                Output     Which season is it    It s summer

User · Answer

Using MVC5 you could use   public enum UserPromotion      None   0x0       Display Name    Send Job Offers By Mail       SendJobOffersByMail   0x1       Display Name    Send Job Offers By Sms       SendJobOffersBySms   0x2       Display Name    Send Other Stuff By Sms       SendPromotionalBySms   0x4       Display Name    Send Other Stuff By Mail       SendPromotionalByMail   0x8     then if you want to create a dropdown selector you can use    Html EnumDropdownListFor expression  model   gt  model PromotionSelector  optionLabel   Select

User · Answer

Based on previous answers I ve created this comfortable helper to support all DisplayAttribute properties in a readable way   public static class EnumExtensions               public static DisplayAttributeValues GetDisplayAttributeValues this Enum enumValue                        var displayAttribute   enumValue GetType   GetMember enumValue ToString    First   GetCustomAttribute lt DisplayAttribute gt                  return new DisplayAttributeValues enumValue  displayAttribute                      public sealed class DisplayAttributeValues                       private readonly Enum enumValue              private readonly DisplayAttribute displayAttribute               public DisplayAttributeValues Enum enumValue  DisplayAttribute displayAttribute                                this enumValue   enumValue                  this displayAttribute   displayAttribute                             public bool  AutoGenerateField   gt  this displayAttribute  GetAutoGenerateField                public bool  AutoGenerateFilter   gt  this displayAttribute  GetAutoGenerateFilter                public int  Order   gt  this displayAttribute  GetOrder                public string Description   gt  this displayAttribute    null   this displayAttribute GetDescription     string Empty              public string GroupName   gt  this displayAttribute    null   this displayAttribute GetGroupName     string Empty              public string Name   gt  this displayAttribute    null   this displayAttribute GetName     this enumValue ToString                public string Prompt   gt  this displayAttribute    null   this displayAttribute GetPrompt     string Empty              public string ShortName   gt  this displayAttribute    null   this displayAttribute GetShortName     this enumValue ToString

User · Answer

I tried doing this as an edit but it was rejected  I can t see why   The above will throw an exception if you call it with an Enum that has a mix of custom attributes and plain items  e g   public enum CommentType       All   1      Rent   2      Insurance   3       Display Name  Service Charge        ServiceCharge   4     So I ve modified the code ever so slightly to check for custom attributes before trying to access them  and use the name if none are found   using System  using System Collections Generic  using System ComponentModel DataAnnotations  using System Linq  using System Reflection   public static class EnumHelper lt T gt        public static IList lt T gt  GetValues Enum value                var enumValues   new List lt T gt              foreach  FieldInfo fi in value GetType   GetFields BindingFlags Static   BindingFlags Public                         enumValues Add  T Enum Parse value GetType    fi Name  false                      return enumValues             public static T Parse string value                return  T Enum Parse typeof T   value  true              public static IList lt string gt  GetNames Enum value                return value GetType   GetFields BindingFlags Static   BindingFlags Public  Select fi   gt  fi Name  ToList               public static IList lt string gt  GetDisplayValues Enum value                return GetNames value  Select obj   gt  GetDisplayValue Parse obj    ToList               private static string lookupResource Type resourceManagerProvider  string resourceKey                foreach  PropertyInfo staticProperty in resourceManagerProvider GetProperties BindingFlags Static   BindingFlags NonPublic   BindingFlags Public                         if  staticProperty PropertyType    typeof System Resources ResourceManager                                 System Resources ResourceManager resourceManager    System Resources ResourceManager staticProperty GetValue null  null                   return resourceManager GetString resourceKey                                    return resourceKey     Fallback with the key name            public static string GetDisplayValue T value                var fieldInfo   value GetType   GetField value ToString              var descriptionAttributes   fieldInfo GetCustomAttributes              typeof DisplayAttribute   false  as DisplayAttribute             if  descriptionAttributes Any    amp  amp  descriptionAttributes 0  ResourceType    null              return lookupResource descriptionAttributes 0  ResourceType  descriptionAttributes 0  Name            if  descriptionAttributes    null  return string Empty          return  descriptionAttributes Length  gt  0    descriptionAttributes 0  Name   value ToString

[c#] How to get the Display Name Attribute of an Enum member via MVC Razor code?

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