Convert Enum to String

Question

Which is the preferred way to convert an Enum to a String in  NET 3 5    Enum GetName Enum Format ToString   Why should I prefer one of these over the others  Does one perform better

User · Answer

Enum GetName    Format   is really just a wrapper around GetName   with some formatting functionality  or InternalGetValueAsString   to be exact   ToString   is pretty much the same as Format    I think GetName   is best option since it s totally obvious what it does for anyone who reads the source

User · Answer

I don t know what the  preferred  method is  ask 100 people and get 100 different opinions  but do what s simplest and what works   GetName works but requires a lot more keystrokes   ToString   seems to do the job very well

User · Answer

All of these internally end up calling a method called InternalGetValueAsString   The difference between ToString and GetName would be that GetName has to verify a few things first    The type you entered isn t null   The type you entered is  in fact an enumeration   The value you passed in isn t null   The value you passed in is of a type that an enumeration can actually use as it s underlying type  or of the type of the enumeration itself   It uses GetType on the value to check this      ToString doesn t have to worry about any of these above issues  because it is called on an instance of the class itself  and not on a passed in version  therefore  due to the fact that the  ToString method doesn t have the same verification issues as the static methods  I would conclude that  ToString is the fastest way to get the value as a string

User · Answer

Best I can find is this unrelated question on MSDN  which contains an XML snippet that answers this question  Any of these methods share the same flaw  they call enum toString    which does not work properly when using Dotfuscation  Other concerns appear to relate to indirect boxing  GetName and Format   Unfortunately  I can t find any performance reasons for using any of the above   Paraphrasing from the xml snippet       Passing a boxed enum to string Format   or any other function can result in enum ToString   being called    This will cause problems when Dotfuscating  You should not use enum ToString    enum GetNames    enum GetName    enum Format   or enum Parse   to convert an enum to a string  Instead  use a switch statement  and also internationalize the names if necessary

User · Answer

As of C 6 the best way to get the name of an enum is the new nameof operator   nameof MyEnum EnumValue       Ouputs  gt   EnumValue    This works at compile time  with the enum being replaced by the string in the compiled result  which in turn means this is the fastest way possible   Any use of enum names does interfere with code obfuscation  if you consider obfuscation of enum names to be worthwhile or important - that s probably a whole other question

User · Answer

As of C 6 the best way to get the name of an enum is the new nameof operator   nameof MyEnum EnumValue       Ouputs  gt   EnumValue    This works at compile time  with the enum being replaced by the string in the compiled result  which in turn means this is the fastest way possible   Any use of enum names does interfere with code obfuscation  if you consider obfuscation of enum names to be worthwhile or important - that s probably a whole other question

User · Answer

Enum GetName    Format   is really just a wrapper around GetName   with some formatting functionality  or InternalGetValueAsString   to be exact   ToString   is pretty much the same as Format    I think GetName   is best option since it s totally obvious what it does for anyone who reads the source

User · Answer

This would work too        List lt string gt  names   Enum GetNames typeof MyEnum   ToList

User · Answer

Simple  enum names into a List   List lt String gt  NameList   Enum GetNames typeof YourEnumName   Cast lt string gt    ToList

User · Answer

All of these internally end up calling a method called InternalGetValueAsString   The difference between ToString and GetName would be that GetName has to verify a few things first    The type you entered isn t null   The type you entered is  in fact an enumeration   The value you passed in isn t null   The value you passed in is of a type that an enumeration can actually use as it s underlying type  or of the type of the enumeration itself   It uses GetType on the value to check this      ToString doesn t have to worry about any of these above issues  because it is called on an instance of the class itself  and not on a passed in version  therefore  due to the fact that the  ToString method doesn t have the same verification issues as the static methods  I would conclude that  ToString is the fastest way to get the value as a string

User · Answer

Enum GetName       This is the most elegant method that is meant for it   var enumValueString   Enum GetName typeof  MyEnum   MyEnum MyValue     Although I don t see any issues with calling  ToString   as it is simply shorter   var enumValueString   MyEnum MyValue ToString        With new C  6 syntax you can use   nameof MyEnum MyValue

User · Answer

I create a  Description  extension method and attach it to the enum so that i can get truly user-friendly naming that includes spaces and casing   I have never liked using the enum value itself as displayable text because it is something we developers use to create more readable code   It is not intended for UI display purposes   I want to be able to change the UI without going through and changing enums all over

User · Answer

ToString   gives the most obvious result from a readability perspective  while using Enum GetName   requires a bit more mental parsing to quickly understand what its trying to do  unless you see the pattern all the time    From a pure performance point of view  as already provided in  nawfal s answer  Enum GetName   is better    If performance is really your goal though  it would be even better to provide a look-up beforehand  using a Dictionary or some other mapping     In C   CLI  this would look like  Dictionary lt String   MyEnum gt  mapping  for each  MyEnum field in Enum  GetValues MyEnum  typeid         mapping Add Enum  GetName MyEnum  typeid   field       Comparison using an enum of 100 items and 1000000 iterations      Enum GetName   800ms    ToString     1600ms   Dictionary mapping   250ms

User · Answer

I create a  Description  extension method and attach it to the enum so that i can get truly user-friendly naming that includes spaces and casing   I have never liked using the enum value itself as displayable text because it is something we developers use to create more readable code   It is not intended for UI display purposes   I want to be able to change the UI without going through and changing enums all over

User · Answer

Works for our project     public static String convertToString this Enum eff        return Enum GetName eff GetType    eff      public static EnumType converToEnum lt EnumType gt  this String enumValue          return  EnumType  Enum Parse typeof EnumType   enumValue

User · Answer

I don t know what the  preferred  method is  ask 100 people and get 100 different opinions  but do what s simplest and what works   GetName works but requires a lot more keystrokes   ToString   seems to do the job very well

User · Answer

Best I can find is this unrelated question on MSDN  which contains an XML snippet that answers this question  Any of these methods share the same flaw  they call enum toString    which does not work properly when using Dotfuscation  Other concerns appear to relate to indirect boxing  GetName and Format   Unfortunately  I can t find any performance reasons for using any of the above   Paraphrasing from the xml snippet       Passing a boxed enum to string Format   or any other function can result in enum ToString   being called    This will cause problems when Dotfuscating  You should not use enum ToString    enum GetNames    enum GetName    enum Format   or enum Parse   to convert an enum to a string  Instead  use a switch statement  and also internationalize the names if necessary

User · Answer

Enum GetName    Format   is really just a wrapper around GetName   with some formatting functionality  or InternalGetValueAsString   to be exact   ToString   is pretty much the same as Format    I think GetName   is best option since it s totally obvious what it does for anyone who reads the source

User · Answer

All of these internally end up calling a method called InternalGetValueAsString   The difference between ToString and GetName would be that GetName has to verify a few things first    The type you entered isn t null   The type you entered is  in fact an enumeration   The value you passed in isn t null   The value you passed in is of a type that an enumeration can actually use as it s underlying type  or of the type of the enumeration itself   It uses GetType on the value to check this      ToString doesn t have to worry about any of these above issues  because it is called on an instance of the class itself  and not on a passed in version  therefore  due to the fact that the  ToString method doesn t have the same verification issues as the static methods  I would conclude that  ToString is the fastest way to get the value as a string

User · Answer

Enum GetName    Format   is really just a wrapper around GetName   with some formatting functionality  or InternalGetValueAsString   to be exact   ToString   is pretty much the same as Format    I think GetName   is best option since it s totally obvious what it does for anyone who reads the source

User · Answer

For VB aficionados   EnumStringValue   System Enum GetName GetType MyEnum   MyEnumValue

User · Answer

Simple  enum names into a List   List lt String gt  NameList   Enum GetNames typeof YourEnumName   Cast lt string gt    ToList

User · Answer

I create a  Description  extension method and attach it to the enum so that i can get truly user-friendly naming that includes spaces and casing   I have never liked using the enum value itself as displayable text because it is something we developers use to create more readable code   It is not intended for UI display purposes   I want to be able to change the UI without going through and changing enums all over

User · Answer

Works for our project     public static String convertToString this Enum eff        return Enum GetName eff GetType    eff      public static EnumType converToEnum lt EnumType gt  this String enumValue          return  EnumType  Enum Parse typeof EnumType   enumValue

User · Answer

Best I can find is this unrelated question on MSDN  which contains an XML snippet that answers this question  Any of these methods share the same flaw  they call enum toString    which does not work properly when using Dotfuscation  Other concerns appear to relate to indirect boxing  GetName and Format   Unfortunately  I can t find any performance reasons for using any of the above   Paraphrasing from the xml snippet       Passing a boxed enum to string Format   or any other function can result in enum ToString   being called    This will cause problems when Dotfuscating  You should not use enum ToString    enum GetNames    enum GetName    enum Format   or enum Parse   to convert an enum to a string  Instead  use a switch statement  and also internationalize the names if necessary

User · Answer

This would work too        List lt string gt  names   Enum GetNames typeof MyEnum   ToList

User · Answer

For VB aficionados   EnumStringValue   System Enum GetName GetType MyEnum   MyEnumValue

User · Answer

All of these internally end up calling a method called InternalGetValueAsString   The difference between ToString and GetName would be that GetName has to verify a few things first    The type you entered isn t null   The type you entered is  in fact an enumeration   The value you passed in isn t null   The value you passed in is of a type that an enumeration can actually use as it s underlying type  or of the type of the enumeration itself   It uses GetType on the value to check this      ToString doesn t have to worry about any of these above issues  because it is called on an instance of the class itself  and not on a passed in version  therefore  due to the fact that the  ToString method doesn t have the same verification issues as the static methods  I would conclude that  ToString is the fastest way to get the value as a string

User · Answer

ToString   gives the most obvious result from a readability perspective  while using Enum GetName   requires a bit more mental parsing to quickly understand what its trying to do  unless you see the pattern all the time    From a pure performance point of view  as already provided in  nawfal s answer  Enum GetName   is better    If performance is really your goal though  it would be even better to provide a look-up beforehand  using a Dictionary or some other mapping     In C   CLI  this would look like  Dictionary lt String   MyEnum gt  mapping  for each  MyEnum field in Enum  GetValues MyEnum  typeid         mapping Add Enum  GetName MyEnum  typeid   field       Comparison using an enum of 100 items and 1000000 iterations      Enum GetName   800ms    ToString     1600ms   Dictionary mapping   250ms

User · Answer

In my tests  Enum GetName was faster and by decent margin  Internally ToString calls Enum GetName  From source for  NET 4 0  the essentials  public override String ToString          return Enum InternalFormat  RuntimeType GetType    GetValue        private static String InternalFormat RuntimeType eT  Object value        if   eT IsDefined typeof System FlagsAttribute   false                 String retval   GetName eT  value      lt    the one         if  retval    null              return value ToString            else             return retval            else               return InternalFlagsFormat eT  value            I cant say that is the reason for sure  but tests state one is faster than the other  Both the calls involve boxing  in fact they are reflection calls  you re essentially retrieving field names  and can be slow for your liking   Test setup  enum with 8 values  no  of iterations   1000000 Result  Enum GetName   gt  700 ms  ToString   gt  2000 ms  If speed isn t noticeable  I wouldn t care and use ToString since it offers a much cleaner call  Contrast Enum GetName typeof Bla   value   with value ToString

User · Answer

In my tests  Enum GetName was faster and by decent margin  Internally ToString calls Enum GetName  From source for  NET 4 0  the essentials  public override String ToString          return Enum InternalFormat  RuntimeType GetType    GetValue        private static String InternalFormat RuntimeType eT  Object value        if   eT IsDefined typeof System FlagsAttribute   false                 String retval   GetName eT  value      lt    the one         if  retval    null              return value ToString            else             return retval            else               return InternalFlagsFormat eT  value            I cant say that is the reason for sure  but tests state one is faster than the other  Both the calls involve boxing  in fact they are reflection calls  you re essentially retrieving field names  and can be slow for your liking   Test setup  enum with 8 values  no  of iterations   1000000 Result  Enum GetName   gt  700 ms  ToString   gt  2000 ms  If speed isn t noticeable  I wouldn t care and use ToString since it offers a much cleaner call  Contrast Enum GetName typeof Bla   value   with value ToString

User · Answer

Best I can find is this unrelated question on MSDN  which contains an XML snippet that answers this question  Any of these methods share the same flaw  they call enum toString    which does not work properly when using Dotfuscation  Other concerns appear to relate to indirect boxing  GetName and Format   Unfortunately  I can t find any performance reasons for using any of the above   Paraphrasing from the xml snippet       Passing a boxed enum to string Format   or any other function can result in enum ToString   being called    This will cause problems when Dotfuscating  You should not use enum ToString    enum GetNames    enum GetName    enum Format   or enum Parse   to convert an enum to a string  Instead  use a switch statement  and also internationalize the names if necessary

User · Answer

I create a  Description  extension method and attach it to the enum so that i can get truly user-friendly naming that includes spaces and casing   I have never liked using the enum value itself as displayable text because it is something we developers use to create more readable code   It is not intended for UI display purposes   I want to be able to change the UI without going through and changing enums all over

User · Answer

I don t know what the  preferred  method is  ask 100 people and get 100 different opinions  but do what s simplest and what works   GetName works but requires a lot more keystrokes   ToString   seems to do the job very well

User · Answer

I don t know what the  preferred  method is  ask 100 people and get 100 different opinions  but do what s simplest and what works   GetName works but requires a lot more keystrokes   ToString   seems to do the job very well

User · Answer

Enum GetName       This is the most elegant method that is meant for it   var enumValueString   Enum GetName typeof  MyEnum   MyEnum MyValue     Although I don t see any issues with calling  ToString   as it is simply shorter   var enumValueString   MyEnum MyValue ToString        With new C  6 syntax you can use   nameof MyEnum MyValue

[.net] Convert Enum to String

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