String representation of an Enum

Question

I have the following enumeration:

public enum AuthenticationMethod
{
    FORMS = 1,
    WINDOWSAUTHENTICATION = 2,
    SINGLESIGNON = 3
}

T

Answer 1

I really like Jakub Šturc's answer, but it's shortcoming is that you cannot use it with a switch-case statement. Here's a slightly modified version of his answer that can be used with a switch statement:

public sealed class AuthenticationMethod
{
    #region This code never needs to change.
    private readonly string _name;
    public readonly Values Value;

    private AuthenticationMethod(Values value, String name){
        this._name = name;
        this.Value = value;
    }

    public override String ToString(){
        return _name;
    }
    #endregion

    public enum Values
    {
        Forms = 1,
        Windows = 2,
        SSN = 3
    }

    public static readonly AuthenticationMethod FORMS = new AuthenticationMethod (Values.Forms, "FORMS");
    public static readonly AuthenticationMethod WINDOWSAUTHENTICATION = new AuthenticationMethod (Values.Windows, "WINDOWS");
    public static readonly AuthenticationMethod SINGLESIGNON = new AuthenticationMethod (Values.SSN, "SSN");
}

So you get all of the benefits of Jakub Šturc's answer, plus we can use it with a switch statement like so:

var authenticationMethodVariable = AuthenticationMethod.FORMS;  // Set the "enum" value we want to use.
var methodName = authenticationMethodVariable.ToString();       // Get the user-friendly "name" of the "enum" value.

// Perform logic based on which "enum" value was chosen.
switch (authenticationMethodVariable.Value)
{
    case authenticationMethodVariable.Values.Forms: // Do something
        break;
    case authenticationMethodVariable.Values.Windows: // Do something
        break;
    case authenticationMethodVariable.Values.SSN: // Do something
        break;      
}