[c#] Get Enum from Description attribute

Possible Duplicate:
Finding an enum value by its Description Attribute

I have a generic extension method which gets the Description attribute from an Enum:

enum Animal
{
    [Description("")]
    NotSet = 0,

    [Description("Giant Panda")]
    GiantPanda = 1,

    [Description("Lesser Spotted Anteater")]
    LesserSpottedAnteater = 2
}

public static string GetDescription(this Enum value)
{            
    FieldInfo field = value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString());

    DescriptionAttribute attribute
            = Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(field, typeof(DescriptionAttribute))
                as DescriptionAttribute;

    return attribute == null ? value.ToString() : attribute.Description;
}

so I can do...

string myAnimal = Animal.GiantPanda.GetDescription(); // = "Giant Panda"

now, I'm trying to work out the equivalent function in the other direction, something like...

Animal a = (Animal)Enum.GetValueFromDescription("Giant Panda", typeof(Animal));

You can't extend Enum as it's a static class. You can only extend instances of a type. With this in mind, you're going to have to create a static method yourself to do this; the following should work when combined with your existing method GetDescription:

public static class EnumHelper
{
    public static T GetEnumFromString<T>(string value)
    {
        if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(T), value))
        {
            return (T)Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value, true);
        }
        else
        {
            string[] enumNames = Enum.GetNames(typeof(T));
            foreach (string enumName in enumNames)
            {  
                object e = Enum.Parse(typeof(T), enumName);
                if (value == GetDescription((Enum)e))
                {
                    return (T)e;
                }
            }
        }
        throw new ArgumentException("The value '" + value 
            + "' does not match a valid enum name or description.");
    }
}

And the usage of it would be something like this:

Animal giantPanda = EnumHelper.GetEnumFromString<Animal>("Giant Panda");

You need to iterate through all the enum values in Animal and return the value that matches the description you need.

Should be pretty straightforward, its just the reverse of your previous method;

public static int GetEnumFromDescription(string description, Type enumType)
{
    foreach (var field in enumType.GetFields())
    {
        DescriptionAttribute attribute
            = Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(field, typeof(DescriptionAttribute))as DescriptionAttribute;
        if(attribute == null)
            continue;
        if(attribute.Description == description)
        {
            return (int) field.GetValue(null);
        }
    }
    return 0;
}

Usage:

Console.WriteLine((Animal)GetEnumFromDescription("Giant Panda",typeof(Animal)));

The solution works good except if you have a Web Service.

You would need to do the Following as the Description Attribute is not serializable.

[DataContract]
public enum ControlSelectionType
{
    [EnumMember(Value = "Not Applicable")]
    NotApplicable = 1,
    [EnumMember(Value = "Single Select Radio Buttons")]
    SingleSelectRadioButtons = 2,
    [EnumMember(Value = "Completely Different Display Text")]
    SingleSelectDropDownList = 3,
}

public static string GetDescriptionFromEnumValue(Enum value)
{
        EnumMemberAttribute attribute = value.GetType()
            .GetField(value.ToString())
            .GetCustomAttributes(typeof(EnumMemberAttribute), false)
            .SingleOrDefault() as EnumMemberAttribute;
        return attribute == null ? value.ToString() : attribute.Value;
}

rather than extension methods, just try a couple of static methods

public static class Utility
{
    public static string GetDescriptionFromEnumValue(Enum value)
    {
        DescriptionAttribute attribute = value.GetType()
            .GetField(value.ToString())
            .GetCustomAttributes(typeof (DescriptionAttribute), false)
            .SingleOrDefault() as DescriptionAttribute;
        return attribute == null ? value.ToString() : attribute.Description;
    }

    public static T GetEnumValueFromDescription<T>(string description)
    {
        var type = typeof(T);
        if (!type.IsEnum)
            throw new ArgumentException();
        FieldInfo[] fields = type.GetFields();
        var field = fields
                        .SelectMany(f => f.GetCustomAttributes(
                            typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false), (
                                f, a) => new { Field = f, Att = a })
                        .Where(a => ((DescriptionAttribute)a.Att)
                            .Description == description).SingleOrDefault();
        return field == null ? default(T) : (T)field.Field.GetRawConstantValue();
    }
}

and use here

var result1 = Utility.GetDescriptionFromEnumValue(
    Animal.GiantPanda);
var result2 = Utility.GetEnumValueFromDescription<Animal>(
    "Lesser Spotted Anteater");