Enum ToString with user friendly strings

Question

My enum consists of the following values   private enum PublishStatusses      NotCompleted      Completed      Error      I want to be able to output these values in a user friendly way though  I don t need to be able to go from string to value again

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I created a reverse extension method to convert the description back into an enum value   public static T ToEnumValue lt T gt  this string enumerationDescription  where T   struct       var type   typeof T        if   type IsEnum          throw new ArgumentException  ToEnumValue lt T gt     Must be of enum type    T         foreach  object val in System Enum GetValues type           if  val GetDescription lt T gt       enumerationDescription              return  T val       throw new ArgumentException  ToEnumValue lt T gt     Invalid description for enum     type Name   enumerationDescription

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The easiest solution here is to use a custom extension method  in  NET 3 5 at least - you can just convert it into a static helper method for earlier framework versions    public static string ToCustomString this PublishStatusses value        switch value                   Return string depending on value            return null      I am assuming here that you want to return something other than the actual name of the enum value  which you can get by simply calling ToString

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If you want something completely customizable  try out my solution here   http   www kevinwilliampang com post Mapping-Enums-To-Strings-and-Strings-to-Enums-in-NET aspx  Basically  the post outlines how to attach Description attributes to each of your enums and provides a generic way to map from enum to description

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In case you just want to add a whitespace between the words  it is as simple as  string res   Regex Replace PublishStatusses NotCompleted    A-Z       0   Trim

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If you want something completely customizable  try out my solution here   http   www kevinwilliampang com post Mapping-Enums-To-Strings-and-Strings-to-Enums-in-NET aspx  Basically  the post outlines how to attach Description attributes to each of your enums and provides a generic way to map from enum to description

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I use the Description attribute from the System ComponentModel namespace  Simply decorate the enum   private enum PublishStatusValue        Description  Not Completed        NotCompleted      Completed      Error      Then use this code to retrieve it   public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this T enumerationValue      where T   struct       Type type   enumerationValue GetType        if   type IsEnum                throw new ArgumentException  EnumerationValue must be of Enum type    enumerationValue                 Tries to find a DescriptionAttribute for a potential friendly name       for the enum     MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember enumerationValue ToString         if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false            if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0                          Pull out the description value             return   DescriptionAttribute attrs 0   Description                        If we have no description attribute  just return the ToString of the enum     return enumerationValue ToString

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I use a generic class to store the enum description pairs and a nested helper class to get the description   The enum   enum Status   Success  Fail  Pending     The generic class    Note  Since a generic class cannot be constrained by an enum I am constraining by struct instead and checking for enum in the constructor   public class EnumX lt T gt  where T   struct       public T Code   get  set        public string Description   get  set         public EnumX T code  string desc                if   typeof T  IsEnum  throw new NotImplementedException             Code   code          Description   desc             public class Helper               private List lt EnumX lt T gt  gt  codes           public Helper List lt EnumX lt T gt  gt  codes                        this codes   codes                     public string GetDescription T code                        EnumX lt T gt  e   codes Where c   gt  c Code Equals code   FirstOrDefault                return e is null    Undefined    e Description                      Usage   EnumX lt Status gt  Helper StatusCodes   new EnumX lt Status gt  Helper new List lt EnumX lt Status gt  gt                          new EnumX lt Status gt  Status Success  Operation was successful                new EnumX lt Status gt  Status Fail  Operation failed                new EnumX lt Status gt  Status Pending  Operation not complete  Please wait                           Console WriteLine StatusCodes GetDescription Status Pending

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I use the Description attribute from the System ComponentModel namespace  Simply decorate the enum   private enum PublishStatusValue        Description  Not Completed        NotCompleted      Completed      Error      Then use this code to retrieve it   public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this T enumerationValue      where T   struct       Type type   enumerationValue GetType        if   type IsEnum                throw new ArgumentException  EnumerationValue must be of Enum type    enumerationValue                 Tries to find a DescriptionAttribute for a potential friendly name       for the enum     MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember enumerationValue ToString         if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false            if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0                          Pull out the description value             return   DescriptionAttribute attrs 0   Description                        If we have no description attribute  just return the ToString of the enum     return enumerationValue ToString

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That other post is Java  You can t put methods in Enums in C    just do something like this   PublishStatusses status       String s   status ToString      If you want to use different display values for your enum values  you could use Attributes and Reflection

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I do this with extension methods   public enum ErrorLevel     None    Low    High    SoylentGreen    public static class ErrorLevelExtensions     public static string ToFriendlyString this ErrorLevel me          switch me              case ErrorLevel None          return  Everything is OK         case ErrorLevel Low          return  SNAFU  if you know what I mean          case ErrorLevel High          return  Reaching TARFU levels         case ErrorLevel SoylentGreen          return  ITS PEOPLE             default          return  Get your damn dirty hands off me you FILTHY APE

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You can use Humanizer package with Humanize Enums possiblity  An eaxample   enum PublishStatusses        Description  Custom description        NotCompleted      AlmostCompleted      Error      then you can use Humanize extension method on enum directly   var st1   PublishStatusses NotCompleted  var str1   st1 Humanize       will result in Custom description  var st2   PublishStatusses AlmostCompleted  var str2   st2 Humanize       will result in Almost completed  calculated automaticaly

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You can use Humanizer package with Humanize Enums possiblity  An eaxample   enum PublishStatusses        Description  Custom description        NotCompleted      AlmostCompleted      Error      then you can use Humanize extension method on enum directly   var st1   PublishStatusses NotCompleted  var str1   st1 Humanize       will result in Custom description  var st2   PublishStatusses AlmostCompleted  var str2   st2 Humanize       will result in Almost completed  calculated automaticaly

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I happen to be a VB NET fan  so here s my version  combining the DescriptionAttribute method with an extension method  First  the results   Imports System ComponentModel   For  lt Description gt   Module Module1        lt summary gt        An Enum type with three values and descriptions        lt  summary gt    Public Enum EnumType      lt Description  One   gt      V1   1        This one has no description     V2   2       lt Description  Three   gt      V3   3   End Enum    Sub Main         Description method is an extension in EnumExtensions     For Each v As EnumType In  Enum  GetValues GetType EnumType         Console WriteLine  Enum  0  has value  1  and description  2            v          CInt v           v Description             Next       Output        Enum V1 has value 1 and description One       Enum V2 has value 2 and description V2       Enum V3 has value 3 and description Three   End Sub End Module   Basic stuff  an enum called EnumType with three values V1  V2 and V3  The  magic  happens in the Console WriteLine call in Sub Main    where the last argument is simply v Description  This returns  One  for V1   V2  for V2  and  Three  for V3  This Description-method is in fact an extension method  defined in another module called EnumExtensions   Option Strict On Option Explicit On Option Infer Off  Imports System Runtime CompilerServices Imports System Reflection Imports System ComponentModel  Module EnumExtensions   Private  Descriptions As New Dictionary Of String  String          lt summary gt        This extension method adds a Description method       to all enum members  The result of the method is the       value of the Description attribute if present  else       the normal ToString   representation of the enum value         lt  summary gt     lt Extension gt    Public Function Description e As  Enum   As String       Get the type of the enum     Dim enumType As Type   e GetType         Get the name of the enum value     Dim name As String   e ToString          Construct a full name for this enum value     Dim fullName As String   enumType FullName         name        See if we have looked it up earlier     Dim enumDescription As String   Nothing     If  Descriptions TryGetValue fullName  enumDescription  Then         Yes we have - return previous value       Return enumDescription     End If        Find the value of the Description attribute on this enum value     Dim members As MemberInfo     enumType GetMember name      If members IsNot Nothing AndAlso members Length  gt  0 Then       Dim descriptions   As Object   members 0  GetCustomAttributes GetType DescriptionAttribute   False        If descriptions IsNot Nothing AndAlso descriptions Length  gt  0 Then           Set name to description found         name   DirectCast descriptions 0   DescriptionAttribute  Description       End If     End If        Save the name in the dictionary       Descriptions Add fullName  name         Return the name     Return name   End Function End Module   Because looking up description attributes using Reflection is slow  the lookups are also cached in a private Dictionary  that is populated on demand    Sorry for the VB NET solution - it should be relatively straighforward to translate it to C   and my C  is rusty on new subjects like extensions

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public enum MyEnum        Description  Option One        Option One    public static string ToDescriptionString this Enum This        Type type   This GetType         string name   Enum GetName type  This        MemberInfo member   type GetMembers            Where w   gt  w Name    name           FirstOrDefault         DescriptionAttribute attribute   member    null           member GetCustomAttributes true               Where w   gt  w GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute                FirstOrDefault   as DescriptionAttribute           null       return attribute    null   attribute Description   name

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Clean summary of the above suggestions with sample   namespace EnumExtensions    using System  using System Reflection   public class TextAttribute   Attribute      public string Text     public TextAttribute  string text           Text   text        ctor     class TextAttribute  public static class EnumExtender    public static string ToText  this Enum enumeration         MemberInfo   memberInfo   enumeration GetType   GetMember  enumeration ToString          if   memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0            object   attributes   memberInfo  0   GetCustomAttributes  typeof TextAttribute    false           if   attributes    null  amp  amp  attributes Length  gt  0              return    TextAttribute attributes  0     Text                 if     return enumeration ToString        ToText     class EnumExtender     namespace   USAGE   using System  using EnumExtensions   class Program    public enum Appearance       Text   left-handed        Left      Text   right-handed        Right      enum  static void Main  string   args         var appearance   Appearance Left     Console WriteLine  appearance ToText          Main     class

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For flags enum including       public static string Description this Enum value                Type type   value GetType             List lt string gt  res   new List lt string gt             var arrValue   value ToString   Split      Select v  gt v Trim             foreach  string strValue in arrValue                        MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember strValue               if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                                object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                    if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0  amp  amp  attrs Where t   gt  t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault      null                                        res Add   DescriptionAttribute attrs Where t   gt  t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault    Description                                     else                     res Add strValue                             else                 res Add strValue                      return res Aggregate  s v   gt s      v

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The easiest solution here is to use a custom extension method  in  NET 3 5 at least - you can just convert it into a static helper method for earlier framework versions    public static string ToCustomString this PublishStatusses value        switch value                   Return string depending on value            return null      I am assuming here that you want to return something other than the actual name of the enum value  which you can get by simply calling ToString

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Maybe I m missing something  but what s wrong with Enum GetName   public string GetName PublishStatusses value        return Enum GetName typeof PublishStatusses   value      edit  for user-friendly strings  you need to go through a  resource to get internationalisation localisation done  and it would arguably be better to use a fixed key based on the enum key than a decorator attribute on the same

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Some other more primitive options that avoid classes reference types    Array method Nested struct method   Array method  private struct PublishStatusses       public static string   Desc              Not Completed            Completed            Error              public enum Id               NotCompleted   0          Completed          Error            Usage  string desc   PublishStatusses Desc  int PublishStatusses Id Completed     Nested struct method  private struct PublishStatusses       public struct NotCompleted               public const int Id   0          public const string Desc    Not Completed              public struct Completed               public const int Id   1          public const string Desc    Completed              public struct Error               public const int Id   2          public const string Desc    Error                         Usage  int id   PublishStatusses NotCompleted Id  string desc   PublishStatusses NotCompleted Desc      Update  03 09 2018   A hybrid of Extension Methods and the first technique above   I prefer enums to be defined where they  belong   closest to their source of origin and not in some common  global namespace    namespace ViewModels       public class RecordVM                 public enum Enum   Minutes  Hours           public struct Enum                       public enum Id   Minutes  Hours               public static string   Name      Minute s     Hour s                          The extension method seems suited for a common area  and the  localized  definition of the enum now makes the extension method more verbose   namespace Common       public static class EnumExtensions               public static string Name this RecordVM Enum Id id                        return RecordVM Enum Name  int id                          A usage example of the enum and it s extension method   namespace Views       public class RecordView                private RecordDataFieldList lt string  string gt   fieldUnit           public RecordView                          fieldUnit List   new IdValueList lt string  string gt                                            new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Minutes  RecordVM Enum Id Minutes Name                     new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Hours  RecordVM Enum Id Hours Name                                      private void Update                             RecordVM Enum Id eId   DetermineUnit                  fieldUnit Input Text    fieldUnit List SetSelected  int eId  Value                        Note  I actually decided to eliminate the Enum wrapper  and Name array   since it s best that the name strings come from a resource  ie config file or DB  instead of being hard-coded  and because I ended up putting the extension method in the ViewModels namespace  just in a different   CommonVM cs  file   Plus the whole  Id thing becomes distracting and cumbersome   namespace ViewModels       public class RecordVM               public enum Enum   Minutes  Hours             public struct Enum                           public enum Id   Minutes  Hours                 public static string   Name      Minute s     Hour s                            CommonVM cs    namespace Common namespace ViewModels       public static class EnumExtensions               public static string Name this RecordVM Enum id                          return RecordVM Enum Name  int id               switch  id                                case RecordVM Enum Minutes  return  Minute s                                        case RecordVM Enum Hours  return  Hour s                    default  return null                                       A usage example of the enum and it s extension method   namespace Views       public class RecordView                private RecordDataFieldList lt string  string gt   fieldUnit          public RecordView                          fieldUnit List   new IdValueList lt string  string gt                                            new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Minutes  RecordVM Enum Id Minutes Name                     new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Hours  RecordVM Enum Id Hours Name                                      private void Update                             RecordVM Enum eId   DetermineUnit                  fieldUnit Input Text    fieldUnit List SetSelected  int eId  Value

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The easiest solution here is to use a custom extension method  in  NET 3 5 at least - you can just convert it into a static helper method for earlier framework versions    public static string ToCustomString this PublishStatusses value        switch value                   Return string depending on value            return null      I am assuming here that you want to return something other than the actual name of the enum value  which you can get by simply calling ToString

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For flags enum including       public static string Description this Enum value                Type type   value GetType             List lt string gt  res   new List lt string gt             var arrValue   value ToString   Split      Select v  gt v Trim             foreach  string strValue in arrValue                        MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember strValue               if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                                object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                    if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0  amp  amp  attrs Where t   gt  t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault      null                                        res Add   DescriptionAttribute attrs Where t   gt  t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault    Description                                     else                     res Add strValue                             else                 res Add strValue                      return res Aggregate  s v   gt s      v

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Use Enum GetName  From the above link     using System   public class GetNameTest       enum Colors   Red  Green  Blue  Yellow        enum Styles   Plaid  Striped  Tartan  Corduroy         public static void Main              Console WriteLine  The 4th value of the Colors Enum is  0    Enum GetName typeof Colors   3            Console WriteLine  The 4th value of the Styles Enum is  0    Enum GetName typeof Styles   3               The example displays the following output           The 4th value of the Colors Enum is Yellow          The 4th value of the Styles Enum is Corduroy

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That other post is Java  You can t put methods in Enums in C    just do something like this   PublishStatusses status       String s   status ToString      If you want to use different display values for your enum values  you could use Attributes and Reflection

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Maybe I m missing something  but what s wrong with Enum GetName   public string GetName PublishStatusses value        return Enum GetName typeof PublishStatusses   value      edit  for user-friendly strings  you need to go through a  resource to get internationalisation localisation done  and it would arguably be better to use a fixed key based on the enum key than a decorator attribute on the same

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The simplest way is just to include this extension class into your project  it will work with any enum in the project   public static class EnumExtensions       public static string ToFriendlyString this Enum code                return Enum GetName code GetType    code             Usage   enum ExampleEnum       Demo   0      Test   1       Live   2          ExampleEnum ee   ExampleEnum Live  Console WriteLine ee ToFriendlyString

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I do this with extension methods   public enum ErrorLevel     None    Low    High    SoylentGreen    public static class ErrorLevelExtensions     public static string ToFriendlyString this ErrorLevel me          switch me              case ErrorLevel None          return  Everything is OK         case ErrorLevel Low          return  SNAFU  if you know what I mean          case ErrorLevel High          return  Reaching TARFU levels         case ErrorLevel SoylentGreen          return  ITS PEOPLE             default          return  Get your damn dirty hands off me you FILTHY APE

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I do this with extension methods   public enum ErrorLevel     None    Low    High    SoylentGreen    public static class ErrorLevelExtensions     public static string ToFriendlyString this ErrorLevel me          switch me              case ErrorLevel None          return  Everything is OK         case ErrorLevel Low          return  SNAFU  if you know what I mean          case ErrorLevel High          return  Reaching TARFU levels         case ErrorLevel SoylentGreen          return  ITS PEOPLE             default          return  Get your damn dirty hands off me you FILTHY APE

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This is an update to Ray Booysen s code that uses the generic GetCustomAttributes method and LINQ to make things a bit tidier            lt summary gt          Gets the value of the  lt see cref  T System ComponentModel DescriptionAttribute   gt  on an struct  including enums             lt  summary gt           lt typeparam name  T  gt The type of the struct  lt  typeparam gt           lt param name  enumerationValue  gt A value of type  lt see cref  T System Enum   gt  lt  param gt           lt returns gt If the struct has a Description attribute  this method returns the description   Otherwise it just calls ToString   on the struct  lt  returns gt           lt remarks gt Based on http   stackoverflow com questions 479410 enum-tostring 479417 479417  but useful for any struct  lt  remarks gt      public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this T enumerationValue  where T   struct               return enumerationValue GetType   GetMember enumerationValue ToString                     SelectMany mi   gt  mi GetCustomAttributes lt DescriptionAttribute gt  false                        mi  ca    gt  ca Description                   FirstOrDefault      enumerationValue ToString

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Even cleaner summary   using System  using System Reflection   public class TextAttribute   Attribute       public string Text      public TextAttribute string text                Text   text             public static class EnumExtender       public static string ToText this Enum enumeration                var memberInfo   enumeration GetType   GetMember enumeration ToString             if  memberInfo Length  lt   0  return enumeration ToString             var attributes   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof TextAttribute   false           return attributes Length  gt  0     TextAttribute attributes 0   Text   enumeration ToString              Same usage as underscore describes

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Instead of using an enum use a static class   replace  private enum PublishStatuses      NotCompleted      Completed      Error      with  private static class PublishStatuses      public static readonly string NotCompleted    Not Completed       public static readonly string Completed    Completed       public static readonly string Error    Error        it will be used like this  PublishStatuses NotCompleted      Not Completed    Issue using the top  extension method  solutions    A private enum is often used inside another class  The extension method solution is not valid there since it must be in it s own class  This solution can be private and embedded in another class

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Some other more primitive options that avoid classes reference types    Array method Nested struct method   Array method  private struct PublishStatusses       public static string   Desc              Not Completed            Completed            Error              public enum Id               NotCompleted   0          Completed          Error            Usage  string desc   PublishStatusses Desc  int PublishStatusses Id Completed     Nested struct method  private struct PublishStatusses       public struct NotCompleted               public const int Id   0          public const string Desc    Not Completed              public struct Completed               public const int Id   1          public const string Desc    Completed              public struct Error               public const int Id   2          public const string Desc    Error                         Usage  int id   PublishStatusses NotCompleted Id  string desc   PublishStatusses NotCompleted Desc      Update  03 09 2018   A hybrid of Extension Methods and the first technique above   I prefer enums to be defined where they  belong   closest to their source of origin and not in some common  global namespace    namespace ViewModels       public class RecordVM                 public enum Enum   Minutes  Hours           public struct Enum                       public enum Id   Minutes  Hours               public static string   Name      Minute s     Hour s                          The extension method seems suited for a common area  and the  localized  definition of the enum now makes the extension method more verbose   namespace Common       public static class EnumExtensions               public static string Name this RecordVM Enum Id id                        return RecordVM Enum Name  int id                          A usage example of the enum and it s extension method   namespace Views       public class RecordView                private RecordDataFieldList lt string  string gt   fieldUnit           public RecordView                          fieldUnit List   new IdValueList lt string  string gt                                            new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Minutes  RecordVM Enum Id Minutes Name                     new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Hours  RecordVM Enum Id Hours Name                                      private void Update                             RecordVM Enum Id eId   DetermineUnit                  fieldUnit Input Text    fieldUnit List SetSelected  int eId  Value                        Note  I actually decided to eliminate the Enum wrapper  and Name array   since it s best that the name strings come from a resource  ie config file or DB  instead of being hard-coded  and because I ended up putting the extension method in the ViewModels namespace  just in a different   CommonVM cs  file   Plus the whole  Id thing becomes distracting and cumbersome   namespace ViewModels       public class RecordVM               public enum Enum   Minutes  Hours             public struct Enum                           public enum Id   Minutes  Hours                 public static string   Name      Minute s     Hour s                            CommonVM cs    namespace Common namespace ViewModels       public static class EnumExtensions               public static string Name this RecordVM Enum id                          return RecordVM Enum Name  int id               switch  id                                case RecordVM Enum Minutes  return  Minute s                                        case RecordVM Enum Hours  return  Hour s                    default  return null                                       A usage example of the enum and it s extension method   namespace Views       public class RecordView                private RecordDataFieldList lt string  string gt   fieldUnit          public RecordView                          fieldUnit List   new IdValueList lt string  string gt                                            new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Minutes  RecordVM Enum Id Minutes Name                     new ListItem lt string gt   int RecordVM Enum Id Hours  RecordVM Enum Id Hours Name                                      private void Update                             RecordVM Enum eId   DetermineUnit                  fieldUnit Input Text    fieldUnit List SetSelected  int eId  Value

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According to this documentation  https   docs microsoft com pt-br dotnet api system enum tostring view netframework-4 8  It is possible to just convert a enumerator to string using a format like this   public enum Example       Example1      Example2    Console WriteLine Example Example1 ToString  g        Outputs   Example1    You can see all the possible formats in this link  https   docs microsoft com pt-br dotnet api system string view netframework-4 8

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I think the best  and easiest  way to solve your problem is to write an Extension-Method for your enum   public static string GetUserFriendlyString this PublishStatusses status

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That other post is Java  You can t put methods in Enums in C    just do something like this   PublishStatusses status       String s   status ToString      If you want to use different display values for your enum values  you could use Attributes and Reflection

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I created a reverse extension method to convert the description back into an enum value   public static T ToEnumValue lt T gt  this string enumerationDescription  where T   struct       var type   typeof T        if   type IsEnum          throw new ArgumentException  ToEnumValue lt T gt     Must be of enum type    T         foreach  object val in System Enum GetValues type           if  val GetDescription lt T gt       enumerationDescription              return  T val       throw new ArgumentException  ToEnumValue lt T gt     Invalid description for enum     type Name   enumerationDescription

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I use the Description attribute from the System ComponentModel namespace  Simply decorate the enum   private enum PublishStatusValue        Description  Not Completed        NotCompleted      Completed      Error      Then use this code to retrieve it   public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this T enumerationValue      where T   struct       Type type   enumerationValue GetType        if   type IsEnum                throw new ArgumentException  EnumerationValue must be of Enum type    enumerationValue                 Tries to find a DescriptionAttribute for a potential friendly name       for the enum     MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember enumerationValue ToString         if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false            if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0                          Pull out the description value             return   DescriptionAttribute attrs 0   Description                        If we have no description attribute  just return the ToString of the enum     return enumerationValue ToString

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The simplest way is just to include this extension class into your project  it will work with any enum in the project   public static class EnumExtensions       public static string ToFriendlyString this Enum code                return Enum GetName code GetType    code             Usage   enum ExampleEnum       Demo   0      Test   1       Live   2          ExampleEnum ee   ExampleEnum Live  Console WriteLine ee ToFriendlyString

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public enum MyEnum        Description  Option One        Option One    public static string ToDescriptionString this Enum This        Type type   This GetType         string name   Enum GetName type  This        MemberInfo member   type GetMembers            Where w   gt  w Name    name           FirstOrDefault         DescriptionAttribute attribute   member    null           member GetCustomAttributes true               Where w   gt  w GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute                FirstOrDefault   as DescriptionAttribute           null       return attribute    null   attribute Description   name

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If you want something completely customizable  try out my solution here   http   www kevinwilliampang com post Mapping-Enums-To-Strings-and-Strings-to-Enums-in-NET aspx  Basically  the post outlines how to attach Description attributes to each of your enums and provides a generic way to map from enum to description

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Maybe I m missing something  but what s wrong with Enum GetName   public string GetName PublishStatusses value        return Enum GetName typeof PublishStatusses   value      edit  for user-friendly strings  you need to go through a  resource to get internationalisation localisation done  and it would arguably be better to use a fixed key based on the enum key than a decorator attribute on the same

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Maybe I m missing something  but what s wrong with Enum GetName   public string GetName PublishStatusses value        return Enum GetName typeof PublishStatusses   value      edit  for user-friendly strings  you need to go through a  resource to get internationalisation localisation done  and it would arguably be better to use a fixed key based on the enum key than a decorator attribute on the same

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The easiest solution here is to use a custom extension method  in  NET 3 5 at least - you can just convert it into a static helper method for earlier framework versions    public static string ToCustomString this PublishStatusses value        switch value                   Return string depending on value            return null      I am assuming here that you want to return something other than the actual name of the enum value  which you can get by simply calling ToString

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I use the Description attribute from the System ComponentModel namespace  Simply decorate the enum   private enum PublishStatusValue        Description  Not Completed        NotCompleted      Completed      Error      Then use this code to retrieve it   public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this T enumerationValue      where T   struct       Type type   enumerationValue GetType        if   type IsEnum                throw new ArgumentException  EnumerationValue must be of Enum type    enumerationValue                 Tries to find a DescriptionAttribute for a potential friendly name       for the enum     MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember enumerationValue ToString         if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false            if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0                          Pull out the description value             return   DescriptionAttribute attrs 0   Description                        If we have no description attribute  just return the ToString of the enum     return enumerationValue ToString

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I happen to be a VB NET fan  so here s my version  combining the DescriptionAttribute method with an extension method  First  the results   Imports System ComponentModel   For  lt Description gt   Module Module1        lt summary gt        An Enum type with three values and descriptions        lt  summary gt    Public Enum EnumType      lt Description  One   gt      V1   1        This one has no description     V2   2       lt Description  Three   gt      V3   3   End Enum    Sub Main         Description method is an extension in EnumExtensions     For Each v As EnumType In  Enum  GetValues GetType EnumType         Console WriteLine  Enum  0  has value  1  and description  2            v          CInt v           v Description             Next       Output        Enum V1 has value 1 and description One       Enum V2 has value 2 and description V2       Enum V3 has value 3 and description Three   End Sub End Module   Basic stuff  an enum called EnumType with three values V1  V2 and V3  The  magic  happens in the Console WriteLine call in Sub Main    where the last argument is simply v Description  This returns  One  for V1   V2  for V2  and  Three  for V3  This Description-method is in fact an extension method  defined in another module called EnumExtensions   Option Strict On Option Explicit On Option Infer Off  Imports System Runtime CompilerServices Imports System Reflection Imports System ComponentModel  Module EnumExtensions   Private  Descriptions As New Dictionary Of String  String          lt summary gt        This extension method adds a Description method       to all enum members  The result of the method is the       value of the Description attribute if present  else       the normal ToString   representation of the enum value         lt  summary gt     lt Extension gt    Public Function Description e As  Enum   As String       Get the type of the enum     Dim enumType As Type   e GetType         Get the name of the enum value     Dim name As String   e ToString          Construct a full name for this enum value     Dim fullName As String   enumType FullName         name        See if we have looked it up earlier     Dim enumDescription As String   Nothing     If  Descriptions TryGetValue fullName  enumDescription  Then         Yes we have - return previous value       Return enumDescription     End If        Find the value of the Description attribute on this enum value     Dim members As MemberInfo     enumType GetMember name      If members IsNot Nothing AndAlso members Length  gt  0 Then       Dim descriptions   As Object   members 0  GetCustomAttributes GetType DescriptionAttribute   False        If descriptions IsNot Nothing AndAlso descriptions Length  gt  0 Then           Set name to description found         name   DirectCast descriptions 0   DescriptionAttribute  Description       End If     End If        Save the name in the dictionary       Descriptions Add fullName  name         Return the name     Return name   End Function End Module   Because looking up description attributes using Reflection is slow  the lookups are also cached in a private Dictionary  that is populated on demand    Sorry for the VB NET solution - it should be relatively straighforward to translate it to C   and my C  is rusty on new subjects like extensions

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Instead of using an enum use a static class   replace  private enum PublishStatuses      NotCompleted      Completed      Error      with  private static class PublishStatuses      public static readonly string NotCompleted    Not Completed       public static readonly string Completed    Completed       public static readonly string Error    Error        it will be used like this  PublishStatuses NotCompleted      Not Completed    Issue using the top  extension method  solutions    A private enum is often used inside another class  The extension method solution is not valid there since it must be in it s own class  This solution can be private and embedded in another class

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Use Enum GetName  From the above link     using System   public class GetNameTest       enum Colors   Red  Green  Blue  Yellow        enum Styles   Plaid  Striped  Tartan  Corduroy         public static void Main              Console WriteLine  The 4th value of the Colors Enum is  0    Enum GetName typeof Colors   3            Console WriteLine  The 4th value of the Styles Enum is  0    Enum GetName typeof Styles   3               The example displays the following output           The 4th value of the Colors Enum is Yellow          The 4th value of the Styles Enum is Corduroy

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I use a generic class to store the enum description pairs and a nested helper class to get the description   The enum   enum Status   Success  Fail  Pending     The generic class    Note  Since a generic class cannot be constrained by an enum I am constraining by struct instead and checking for enum in the constructor   public class EnumX lt T gt  where T   struct       public T Code   get  set        public string Description   get  set         public EnumX T code  string desc                if   typeof T  IsEnum  throw new NotImplementedException             Code   code          Description   desc             public class Helper               private List lt EnumX lt T gt  gt  codes           public Helper List lt EnumX lt T gt  gt  codes                        this codes   codes                     public string GetDescription T code                        EnumX lt T gt  e   codes Where c   gt  c Code Equals code   FirstOrDefault                return e is null    Undefined    e Description                      Usage   EnumX lt Status gt  Helper StatusCodes   new EnumX lt Status gt  Helper new List lt EnumX lt Status gt  gt                          new EnumX lt Status gt  Status Success  Operation was successful                new EnumX lt Status gt  Status Fail  Operation failed                new EnumX lt Status gt  Status Pending  Operation not complete  Please wait                           Console WriteLine StatusCodes GetDescription Status Pending

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I think the best  and easiest  way to solve your problem is to write an Extension-Method for your enum   public static string GetUserFriendlyString this PublishStatusses status

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With respect to Ray Booysen  there is a bug in the code  Enum ToString with user friendly strings  You need to account for multiple attributes on the enum values   public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this object enumerationValue              where T   struct               Type type   enumerationValue GetType            if   type IsEnum                        throw new ArgumentException  EnumerationValue must be of Enum type    enumerationValue                         Tries to find a DescriptionAttribute for a potential friendly name           for the enum         MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember enumerationValue ToString             if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                        object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0  amp  amp  attrs Where t   gt  t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault      null                                  Pull out the description value                 return   DescriptionAttribute attrs Where t  gt t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault    Description                                    If we have no description attribute  just return the ToString of the enum         return enumerationValue ToString

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Clean summary of the above suggestions with sample   namespace EnumExtensions    using System  using System Reflection   public class TextAttribute   Attribute      public string Text     public TextAttribute  string text           Text   text        ctor     class TextAttribute  public static class EnumExtender    public static string ToText  this Enum enumeration         MemberInfo   memberInfo   enumeration GetType   GetMember  enumeration ToString          if   memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0            object   attributes   memberInfo  0   GetCustomAttributes  typeof TextAttribute    false           if   attributes    null  amp  amp  attributes Length  gt  0              return    TextAttribute attributes  0     Text                 if     return enumeration ToString        ToText     class EnumExtender     namespace   USAGE   using System  using EnumExtensions   class Program    public enum Appearance       Text   left-handed        Left      Text   right-handed        Right      enum  static void Main  string   args         var appearance   Appearance Left     Console WriteLine  appearance ToText          Main     class

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If you want something completely customizable  try out my solution here   http   www kevinwilliampang com post Mapping-Enums-To-Strings-and-Strings-to-Enums-in-NET aspx  Basically  the post outlines how to attach Description attributes to each of your enums and provides a generic way to map from enum to description

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Even cleaner summary   using System  using System Reflection   public class TextAttribute   Attribute       public string Text      public TextAttribute string text                Text   text             public static class EnumExtender       public static string ToText this Enum enumeration                var memberInfo   enumeration GetType   GetMember enumeration ToString             if  memberInfo Length  lt   0  return enumeration ToString             var attributes   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof TextAttribute   false           return attributes Length  gt  0     TextAttribute attributes 0   Text   enumeration ToString              Same usage as underscore describes

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I do this with extension methods   public enum ErrorLevel     None    Low    High    SoylentGreen    public static class ErrorLevelExtensions     public static string ToFriendlyString this ErrorLevel me          switch me              case ErrorLevel None          return  Everything is OK         case ErrorLevel Low          return  SNAFU  if you know what I mean          case ErrorLevel High          return  Reaching TARFU levels         case ErrorLevel SoylentGreen          return  ITS PEOPLE             default          return  Get your damn dirty hands off me you FILTHY APE

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In case you just want to add a whitespace between the words  it is as simple as  string res   Regex Replace PublishStatusses NotCompleted    A-Z       0   Trim

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With respect to Ray Booysen  there is a bug in the code  Enum ToString with user friendly strings  You need to account for multiple attributes on the enum values   public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this object enumerationValue              where T   struct               Type type   enumerationValue GetType            if   type IsEnum                        throw new ArgumentException  EnumerationValue must be of Enum type    enumerationValue                         Tries to find a DescriptionAttribute for a potential friendly name           for the enum         MemberInfo   memberInfo   type GetMember enumerationValue ToString             if  memberInfo    null  amp  amp  memberInfo Length  gt  0                        object   attrs   memberInfo 0  GetCustomAttributes typeof DescriptionAttribute   false                if  attrs    null  amp  amp  attrs Length  gt  0  amp  amp  attrs Where t   gt  t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault      null                                  Pull out the description value                 return   DescriptionAttribute attrs Where t  gt t GetType      typeof DescriptionAttribute   FirstOrDefault    Description                                    If we have no description attribute  just return the ToString of the enum         return enumerationValue ToString

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According to this documentation  https   docs microsoft com pt-br dotnet api system enum tostring view netframework-4 8  It is possible to just convert a enumerator to string using a format like this   public enum Example       Example1      Example2    Console WriteLine Example Example1 ToString  g        Outputs   Example1    You can see all the possible formats in this link  https   docs microsoft com pt-br dotnet api system string view netframework-4 8

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That other post is Java  You can t put methods in Enums in C    just do something like this   PublishStatusses status       String s   status ToString      If you want to use different display values for your enum values  you could use Attributes and Reflection

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This is an update to Ray Booysen s code that uses the generic GetCustomAttributes method and LINQ to make things a bit tidier            lt summary gt          Gets the value of the  lt see cref  T System ComponentModel DescriptionAttribute   gt  on an struct  including enums             lt  summary gt           lt typeparam name  T  gt The type of the struct  lt  typeparam gt           lt param name  enumerationValue  gt A value of type  lt see cref  T System Enum   gt  lt  param gt           lt returns gt If the struct has a Description attribute  this method returns the description   Otherwise it just calls ToString   on the struct  lt  returns gt           lt remarks gt Based on http   stackoverflow com questions 479410 enum-tostring 479417 479417  but useful for any struct  lt  remarks gt      public static string GetDescription lt T gt  this T enumerationValue  where T   struct               return enumerationValue GetType   GetMember enumerationValue ToString                     SelectMany mi   gt  mi GetCustomAttributes lt DescriptionAttribute gt  false                        mi  ca    gt  ca Description                   FirstOrDefault      enumerationValue ToString

[c#] Enum ToString with user friendly strings

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