Associating enums with strings in C#

You could also use the extension model:

public enum MyEnum
{
    [Description("String 1")]
    V1= 1,
    [Description("String 2")]
    V2= 2
} 

Your Extension Class

public static class MyEnumExtensions
{
    public static string ToDescriptionString(this MyEnum val)
    {
        DescriptionAttribute[] attributes = (DescriptionAttribute[])val
           .GetType()
           .GetField(val.ToString())
           .GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
        return attributes.Length > 0 ? attributes[0].Description : string.Empty;
    }
} 

usage:

MyEnum myLocal = MyEnum.V1;
print(myLocal.ToDescriptionString());

Try adding constants to a static class. You don't end up with a Type, but you will have readable, organised constants:

public static class GroupTypes {

    public const string TheGroup = "OEM";
    public const string TheOtherGroup = "CMB";

}

I used a structure as alluded to in a previous answer, but did away with any complexity. To me, this was most like creating an enumeration of strings. It is used in the same manner that an enumeration is used.

    struct ViewTypes
    {
        public const string View1 = "Whatever string you like";
        public const string View2 = "another string";
    }

Example use:

   switch( some_string_variable )
   {
      case ViewTypes.View1: /* do something */ break;
      case ViewTypes.View2: /* do something else */ break;
   }

You can add attributes to the items in the enumeration and then use reflection to get the values from the attributes.

You would have to use the "field" specifier to apply the attributes, like so:

enum GroupTypes
{
    [field:Description("OEM")]
    TheGroup,

    [field:Description("CMB")]
    TheOtherGroup
}

You would then reflect on the static fields of the type of the enum (in this case GroupTypes) and get the DescriptionAttribute for the value you were looking for using reflection:

public static DescriptionAttribute GetEnumDescriptionAttribute<T>(
    this T value) where T : struct
{
    // The type of the enum, it will be reused.
    Type type = typeof(T);

    // If T is not an enum, get out.
    if (!type.IsEnum) 
        throw new InvalidOperationException(
            "The type parameter T must be an enum type.");

    // If the value isn't defined throw an exception.
    if (!Enum.IsDefined(type, value))
        throw new InvalidEnumArgumentException(
            "value", Convert.ToInt32(value), type);

    // Get the static field for the value.
    FieldInfo fi = type.GetField(value.ToString(), 
        BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public);

    // Get the description attribute, if there is one.
    return fi.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), true).
        Cast<DescriptionAttribute>().SingleOrDefault();
}

I opted to return the DescriptionAttribute itself above, in the event that you want to be able to determine whether or not the attribute is even applied.

Use a class.

Edit: Better example

class StarshipType
{
    private string _Name;
    private static List<StarshipType> _StarshipTypes = new List<StarshipType>();

    public static readonly StarshipType Ultralight = new StarshipType("Ultralight");
    public static readonly StarshipType Light = new StarshipType("Light");
    public static readonly StarshipType Mediumweight = new StarshipType("Mediumweight");
    public static readonly StarshipType Heavy = new StarshipType("Heavy");
    public static readonly StarshipType Superheavy = new StarshipType("Superheavy");

    public string Name
    {
        get { return _Name; }
        private set { _Name = value; }
    }

    public static IList<StarshipType> StarshipTypes
    {
        get { return _StarshipTypes; }
    }

    private StarshipType(string name, int systemRatio)
    {
        Name = name;
        _StarshipTypes.Add(this);
    }

    public static StarshipType Parse(string toParse)
    {
        foreach (StarshipType s in StarshipTypes)
        {
            if (toParse == s.Name)
                return s;
        }
        throw new FormatException("Could not parse string.");
    }
}

Create a second enum, for your DB containing the following:

enum DBGroupTypes
{
    OEM = 0,
    CMB = 1
}

Now, you can use Enum.Parse to retrieve the correct DBGroupTypes value from the strings "OEM" and "CMB". You can then convert those to int and retrieve the correct values from the right enumeration you want to use further in your model.

Here is the extension method that I used to get the enum value as string. First here is the enum.

public enum DatabaseEnvironment
{
    [Description("AzamSharpBlogDevDatabase")]
    Development = 1, 
    [Description("AzamSharpBlogQADatabase")]
    QualityAssurance = 2, 
    [Description("AzamSharpBlogTestDatabase")] 
    Test = 3
}

The Description attribute came from System.ComponentModel.

And here is my extension method:

public static string GetValueAsString(this DatabaseEnvironment environment) 
{
    // get the field 
    var field = environment.GetType().GetField(environment.ToString());
    var customAttributes = field.GetCustomAttributes(typeof (DescriptionAttribute), false);

    if(customAttributes.Length > 0)
    {
        return (customAttributes[0] as DescriptionAttribute).Description;  
    }
    else
    {
        return environment.ToString(); 
    }
}

Now, you can access the enum as string value using the following code:

[TestFixture]
public class when_getting_value_of_enum
{
    [Test]
    public void should_get_the_value_as_string()
    {
        Assert.AreEqual("AzamSharpBlogTestDatabase",DatabaseEnvironment.Test.GetValueAsString());  
    }
}

New in .Net Core 3.0/C# 8.0 (if your work environment allows you to upgrade your project) is a short-hand switch statement that looks somewhat enum-ish. At the end of the day it's the same old boring switch statement we've been using for years.

Only real difference here is that the switch statement got a new suit.

public static RGBColor FromRainbow(Rainbow colorBand) =>
colorBand switch
{
    Rainbow.Red    => new RGBColor(0xFF, 0x00, 0x00),
    Rainbow.Orange => new RGBColor(0xFF, 0x7F, 0x00),
    Rainbow.Yellow => new RGBColor(0xFF, 0xFF, 0x00),
    Rainbow.Green  => new RGBColor(0x00, 0xFF, 0x00),
    Rainbow.Blue   => new RGBColor(0x00, 0x00, 0xFF),
    Rainbow.Indigo => new RGBColor(0x4B, 0x00, 0x82),
    Rainbow.Violet => new RGBColor(0x94, 0x00, 0xD3),
    _              => throw new ArgumentException(message: "invalid enum value", paramName: nameof(colorBand)),
};

You'll notice that the code above which I copied from here, is actually using an enum as a param.

It's not exactly what you want (and trust me, I've wanted something of similar to what the OP is requesting for a long time), but I actually feel like this is somewhat of an olive branch from MS. JMO.

Hope it helps someone!

Taken from @EvenMien and added in some of the comments. (Also for my own use case)

public struct AgentAction
{
    private AgentAction(string value) { Value = value; }

    public string Value { get; private set; }

    public override string ToString() { return this.Value; }
    
    public static AgentAction Login = new AgentAction("Login");
    public static AgentAction Logout = new AgentAction("Logout");

    public static implicit operator string(AgentAction action) { return action.ToString(); }
}

Why not just use the same enum, but just call .ToString()?

using System;

public class EnumSample
{
    enum Holidays
    {
        Christmas = 1,
        Easter = 2
    };

    public static void Main()
    {
        Enum myHolidays = Holidays.Christmas;
        Console.WriteLine("The value of this instance is '{0}'", myHolidays.ToString());
    }
}

Have you considered a lookup table using a Dictionary?

enum GroupTypes
{
    TheGroup,
    TheOtherGroup
}

Dictionary<string, GroupTypes> GroupTypeLookup = new Dictionary<string, GroupTypes>();
// initialize lookup table:
GroupTypeLookup.Add("OEM", TheGroup);
GroupTypeLookup.Add("CMB", TheOtherGroup);

You can then use GroupTypeLookup.TryGetValue() to look up a string when you read it.

I would just create a dictionary and use the code as the key.

Edit: To address the comment about doing a reverse lookup (finding the key), this would not be terribly efficient. If this is necessary, I would write a new class to handle it.

public class DataType
{
    private readonly string value;
    private static readonly Dictionary<string, DataType> predefinedValues;

    public static readonly DataType Json = new DataType("json");
    public static readonly DataType Xml = new DataType("xml");
    public static readonly DataType Text = new DataType("text");
    public static readonly DataType Html = new DataType("html");
    public static readonly DataType Binary = new DataType("binary");

    static DataType()
    {
        predefinedValues = new Dictionary<string, DataType>();
        predefinedValues.Add(Json.Value, Json);
        predefinedValues.Add(Xml.Value, Xml);
        predefinedValues.Add(Text.Value, Text);
        predefinedValues.Add(Html.Value, Html);
        predefinedValues.Add(Binary.Value, Binary);
    }

    private DataType(string value)
    {
        this.value = value;
    }

    public static DataType Parse(string value)
    {
        var exception = new FormatException($"Invalid value for type {nameof(DataType)}");
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
            throw exception;

        string key = value.ToLower();
        if (!predefinedValues.ContainsKey(key))
            throw exception;

        return predefinedValues[key];
    }

    public string Value
    {
        get { return value; }
    }
}

Here is my take on this, using C# 9.0 syntax to keep it clean. I define a base class for the enums:

public class StringEnum
{
    protected StringEnum(string value) { Value = value; }
    public string Value { get; }
    public override string ToString() => Value;
}

Creating new enum style types is then easy and compact:

public class GroupTypes : StringEnum
{ 
    private GroupTypes(string value) : base(value) {}

    public static readonly GroupTypes TheGroup = new("OEM");
    public static readonly GroupTypes TheOtherGroup = new("CMB");
}

Use it like this:

void Example(GroupTypes groupType)
{
    Console.WriteLine(groupType); // Will print "OEM" or "CMB"
    if (groupType == GroupTypes.TheGroup) { ... }
}

You can also add more functionality to StringEnum, which will then be available for all your subclasses (e. g., implementing IComparable and overriding Equals and GetHashCode)

My first question - Do you have access to the Database itself? This should be normalized in the database, ideally, otherwise, any solution is going to be prone to error. In my experience, data fields full of "OEM" and "CMB" tend to wind up having things like "oem " and other 'crap data' mixed in over time.... If you can normalize it, you could use the key in the table containing the elements as your Enum, and you're done, with a much cleaner structure.

If that's not available, I'd make your Enum, and make a class to parse your string into the Enum for you. This would at least give you some flexibility in handling non-standard entries and much more flexibility for trapping or handling errors than doing any of the workarounds using Enum.Parse/Reflection/etc. A dictionary would work, but could break down if you ever have case issues, etc.

I'd recommend writing a class so you can do:

// I renamed this to GroupType, since it sounds like each element has a single type...
GroupType theType = GroupTypeParser.GetGroupType(theDBString);

This preserves most of your readability without having to change the DB.

A small tweak to Glennular Extension method, so you could use the extension on other things than just ENUM's;

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
namespace Extensions {
    public static class T_Extensions {
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the Description Attribute Value
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T">Entity Type</typeparam>
        /// <param name="val">Variable</param>
        /// <returns>The value of the Description Attribute or an Empty String</returns>
        public static string Description<T>(this T t) {
            DescriptionAttribute[] attributes = (DescriptionAttribute[])t.GetType().GetField(t.ToString()).GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
            return attributes.Length > 0 ? attributes[0].Description : string.Empty;
        }
    }
}

Or Using Linq

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Linq;

namespace Extensions {


public static class T_Extensions {
        public static string Description<T>(this T t) =>
            ((DescriptionAttribute[])t
            ?.GetType()
            ?.GetField(t?.ToString())
            ?.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false))
            ?.Select(a => a?.Description)
            ?.FirstOrDefault() 
            ?? string.Empty;  
    }
}

Following the answer of @Even Mien I have tried to go a bit further and make it Generic, I seem to be almost there but one case still resist and I probably can simplify my code a bit.
I post it here if anyone see how I could improve and especially make it works as I can't assign it from a string

So Far I have the following results:

        Console.WriteLine(TestEnum.Test1);//displays "TEST1"

        bool test = "TEST1" == TestEnum.Test1; //true

        var test2 = TestEnum.Test1; //is TestEnum and has value

        string test3 = TestEnum.Test1; //test3 = "TEST1"

        var test4 = TestEnum.Test1 == TestEnum.Test2; //false
         EnumType<TestEnum> test5 = "TEST1"; //works fine

        //TestEnum test5 = "string"; DOESN'T compile .... :(:(

Where the magics happens :

public abstract  class EnumType<T>  where T : EnumType<T>   
{

    public  string Value { get; set; }

    protected EnumType(string value)
    {
        Value = value;
    }


    public static implicit operator EnumType<T>(string s)
    {
        if (All.Any(dt => dt.Value == s))
        {
            Type t = typeof(T);

            ConstructorInfo ci = t.GetConstructor(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic,null, new Type[] { typeof(string) }, null);

            return (T)ci.Invoke(new object[] {s});
        }
        else
        {
            return null;
        }
    }

    public static implicit operator string(EnumType<T> dt)
    {
        return dt?.Value;
    }


    public static bool operator ==(EnumType<T> ct1, EnumType<T> ct2)
    {
        return (string)ct1 == (string)ct2;
    }

    public static bool operator !=(EnumType<T> ct1, EnumType<T> ct2)
    {
        return !(ct1 == ct2);
    }


    public override bool Equals(object obj)
    {
        try
        {
            return (string)obj == Value;
        }
        catch
        {
            return false;
        }
    }

    public override int GetHashCode()
    {
        return Value.GetHashCode();
    }

    public static IEnumerable<T> All
     => typeof(T).GetProperties()
       .Where(p => p.PropertyType == typeof(T))
       .Select(x => (T)x.GetValue(null, null));



}

I only then have to declare this for my enums:

public class TestEnum : EnumType<TestEnum> 
{

    private TestEnum(string value) : base(value)
    {}

    public static TestEnum Test1 { get { return new TestEnum("TEST1"); } }
    public static TestEnum Test2 { get { return new TestEnum("TEST2"); } }
}

I would make it into a class an avoid an enum altogether. And then with the usage of a typehandler you could create the object when you grab it from the db.

IE:

public class Group
{
    public string Value{ get; set; }
    public Group( string value ){ Value = value; } 
    public static Group TheGroup() { return new Group("OEM"); }
    public static Group OtherGroup() { return new Group("CMB"); }

}

I wanted to avoid using string literals completely, and also I didn't need to have space in item descriptions. More importantly, I wanted to have a mechanism to check if the provided string is a valid item, so I came up with this solution:

public class Seasons
{
    public static string Spring { get; }
    public static string Summer { get; }
    public static string Fall { get; }
    public static string Winter { get; }

    public static bool IsValid(string propertyName)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(propertyName))
        {
            return false;
        }

        try
        {           
            return typeof(Seasons).GetProperty(propertyName) != null;
        }
        catch
        {
            return false;
        }       
    }
}

And here is how it works:

void Main()
{
    string s = nameof(Seasons.Fall);
    Console.WriteLine($"Fall is valid: {Seasons.IsValid(s)}"); // true

    s = "WrongSeason";
    Console.WriteLine($"WrongSeason is valid: {Seasons.IsValid(s)}"); // false
}

I tried to refactor IsValid() into a base class and use reflection to read the type (MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType), but since I wanted to have it static, it returns the base class type, not the inherited type. Your remedy to this will be very welcomed! Here is what I was trying to achieve:

public  class Seasons : ConstantStringsBase
{
    // ... same
}

public  class ConstantStringsBase
{
    public static bool IsValid(string propertyName)
    {       
        return MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType.GetProperty(propertyName) != null;
    }
}

I was basically looking for the Reflection answer by @ArthurC

Just to extend his answer a little bit, you can make it even better by having a generic function:

    // If you want for a specific Enum
    private static string EnumStringValue(GroupTypes e)
    {
        return EnumStringValue<GroupTypes>(e);
    }

    // Generic
    private static string EnumStringValue<T>(T enumInstance)
    {
        return Enum.GetName(typeof(T), enumInstance);
    } 

Then you can just wrap whatever you have

EnumStringValue(GroupTypes.TheGroup) // if you incorporate the top part

or

EnumStringValue<GroupTypes>(GroupTypes.TheGroup) // if you just use the generic

Adding this class

public class DatabasePreference {
    public DatabasePreference([CallerMemberName] string preferenceName = "") {
        PreferenceName = preferenceName;
    }
    public string PreferenceName;
}

This work is using CallerMemberName to minimize the coding

Using:

//Declare names
public static DatabasePreference ScannerDefaultFlashLight = new DatabasePreference();
public static DatabasePreference ScannerQrCodes = new DatabasePreference();
public static DatabasePreference Scanner1dCodes = new DatabasePreference();

Test it:

Console.WriteLine(ScannerDefaultFlashLight.PreferenceName);
Console.WriteLine(ScannerDefaultFlashLight.Scanner1dCodes);

output:

ScannerDefaultFlashLight
Scanner1dCodes

I've done something like this;

public enum BusinessUnits
{
    NEW_EQUIPMENT = 0,
    USED_EQUIPMENT = 1,
    RENTAL_EQUIPMENT = 2,
    PARTS = 3,
    SERVICE = 4,
    OPERATOR_TRAINING = 5
}

public class BusinessUnitService
{
    public static string StringBusinessUnits(BusinessUnits BU)
    {
        switch (BU)
        {
            case BusinessUnits.NEW_EQUIPMENT: return "NEW EQUIPMENT";
            case BusinessUnits.USED_EQUIPMENT: return "USED EQUIPMENT";
            case BusinessUnits.RENTAL_EQUIPMENT: return "RENTAL EQUIPMENT";
            case BusinessUnits.PARTS: return "PARTS";
            case BusinessUnits.SERVICE: return "SERVICE";
            case BusinessUnits.OPERATOR_TRAINING: return "OPERATOR TRAINING";
            default: return String.Empty;
        }
    }
}

Call it with this;

BusinessUnitService.StringBusinessUnits(BusinessUnits.PARTS)

If not all the values of your enum actually have a string and if you want to set those values later, I use classes like this below:

 public class SessionResoult
{
    public enum SessionResoultType
    {
        Success,
        Error,
    }
    public SessionResoult(SessionResoultType sesionResoultType, string value = null)
    {
        Type = sesionResoultType;
        Value = value;
       
    }

    public SessionResoultType Type { get; set; }

    public string Value { get; private set; }
  

    public sealed class Success : SessionResoult
    {
        public Success() : base(SessionResoultType.Success) { }
    }

    public sealed class Error : SessionResoult
    {
        public Error(string value) : base(SessionResoultType.Error, value) { }
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        if(this is Success)
        {
            return (SessionResoultType.Success.ToString());
        }else if(this is Error)
        {
            return $"{SessionResoultType.Error}:{this.Value}";
        }
        else { return base.ToString(); }
    }

}

Usage example:

private SessionResoult ok = new SessionResoult.Success(); private SessionResoult error = new SessionResoult.Error("No network available");

Several good answers above if you like to code the extension yourself

I use CodeHelper.Core.Extensions

enum GroupTypes
{

    [StringValue("OEM")] TheGroup,
    [StringValue("CMB")] TheOtherGroup = "CMB"
}

GroupTypes.TheOtherGroup.ToStringValue()

If you don't have a StringValue Attribute added to the values, the extension returns the normal name (.ToTring()) And super easy to add spaces and other normally not-allowed characters like spaces or starting with numbers