Exposing the DescriptionAttribute of Enums from a WCF Service

Question

how can i expose description attribute in enum values from service to client or web reference using WCF or

how can i expose enum with description attribute to client

Answer 1

you can do this using reflection. back in the client after you have the Enum value.. try picking up the attribute using GetField() & GetCustomAttributes()

using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace CustomAttributes
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Colors n1 = Colors.blue;

            object [] attribues = n1.GetType().GetField(n1.ToString()).GetCustomAttributes(true);
            Console.WriteLine((attribues[0] as DescriptionAttribute).Description);
            // WOULD PRINT  "DARK BLUE"
        }
    }

    enum Colors
    {
        [Description("DARK BLUE")]
        blue,
        [Description("PLAIN WHITE")]
        white
    }
}