Get int value from enum in C#

Just cast the enum, e.g.

int something = (int) Question.Role;

The above will work for the vast majority of enums you see in the wild, as the default underlying type for an enum is int.

However, as cecilphillip points out, enums can have different underlying types. If an enum is declared as a uint, long, or ulong, it should be cast to the type of the enum; e.g. for

enum StarsInMilkyWay:long {Sun = 1, V645Centauri = 2 .. Wolf424B = 2147483649};

you should use

long something = (long)StarsInMilkyWay.Wolf424B;

On a related note, if you want to get the int value from System.Enum, then given e here:

Enum e = Question.Role;

You can use:

int i = Convert.ToInt32(e);
int i = (int)(object)e;
int i = (int)Enum.Parse(e.GetType(), e.ToString());
int i = (int)Enum.ToObject(e.GetType(), e);

The last two are plain ugly. I prefer the first one.

Question question = Question.Role;
int value = (int) question;

Will result in value == 2.

It's easier than you think - an enum is already an int. It just needs to be reminded:

int y = (int)Question.Role;
Console.WriteLine(y); // Prints 2

Use:

Question question = Question.Role;
int value = question.GetHashCode();

It will result in value == 2.

This is only true if the enum fits inside an int.

public enum Suit : int
{
    Spades = 0,
    Hearts = 1,
    Clubs = 2,
    Diamonds = 3
}

Console.WriteLine((int)(Suit)Enum.Parse(typeof(Suit), "Clubs"));

// From int
Console.WriteLine((Suit)1);

// From a number you can also
Console.WriteLine((Suit)Enum.ToObject(typeof(Suit), 1));

if (typeof(Suit).IsEnumDefined("Spades"))
{
    var res = (int)(Suit)Enum.Parse(typeof(Suit), "Spades");
    Console.Out.WriteLine("{0}", res);
}

You should have used Type Casting as we can use in any other language.

If your enum is like this-

public enum Question
{
    Role = 2,
    ProjectFunding = 3,
    TotalEmployee = 4,
    NumberOfServers = 5,
    TopBusinessConcern = 6
}

And you need to cast to an int, then do this-

Question q = Question.Role;
.............
.............
int something = (int) q;

Re-

In C#, there are two types of casting:

• Implicit Casting (automatically) - converting a smaller type to a larger type size like-

char -> int -> long -> float -> double

• Explicit Casting (manually) - converting a larger type to a smaller size type like-

double -> float -> long -> int -> char

More can be found in here.

will give you the a list with all the integer values of the enum :

List enumValues = Enum.GetValues(typeof(EnumClass)).Cast().ToList();

public enum ViewType
{
    List = 1,
    Table = 2,
};
            
// You can use the Enum type as a parameter, so any enumeration from any enumerator 
// cshtml
// using proyects.Helpers
// @if (Model.ViewType== (int)<variable>.List )

I came up with this extension method that includes current language features. By using dynamic, I don't need to make this a generic method and specify the type which keeps the invocation simpler and consistent:

public static class EnumEx
{
    public static dynamic Value(this Enum e)
    {
        switch (e.GetTypeCode())
        {
            case TypeCode.Byte:
            {
                return (byte) (IConvertible) e;
            }

            case TypeCode.Int16:
            {
                return (short) (IConvertible) e;
            }

            case TypeCode.Int32:
            {
                return (int) (IConvertible) e;
            }

            case TypeCode.Int64:
            {
                return (long) (IConvertible) e;
            }

            case TypeCode.UInt16:
            {
                return (ushort) (IConvertible) e;
            }

            case TypeCode.UInt32:
            {
                return (uint) (IConvertible) e;
            }

            case TypeCode.UInt64:
            {
                return (ulong) (IConvertible) e;
            }

            case TypeCode.SByte:
            {
                return (sbyte) (IConvertible) e;
            }
        }

        return 0;
    }