How to TryParse for Enum value?

Question

I want to write a function which can validate a given value (passed as a string) against possible values of an enum. In the case of a match, it should return th

Answer 1

This method will convert a type of enum:

  public static TEnum ToEnum<TEnum>(object EnumValue, TEnum defaultValue)
    {
        if (!Enum.IsDefined(typeof(TEnum), EnumValue))
        {
            Type enumType = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(typeof(TEnum));
            if ( EnumValue.GetType() == enumType )
            {
                string name = Enum.GetName(typeof(HLink.ViewModels.ClaimHeaderViewModel.ClaimStatus), EnumValue);
                if( name != null)
                    return (TEnum)Enum.Parse(typeof(TEnum), name);
                return defaultValue;
            }
        }
        return (TEnum)Enum.Parse(typeof(TEnum), EnumValue.ToString());
    } 

It checks the underlying type and get the name against it to parse. If everything fails it will return default value.

Answer 2

Based on .NET 4.5

Sample code below

using System;

enum Importance
{
    None,
    Low,
    Medium,
    Critical
}

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
    // The input value.
    string value = "Medium";

    // An unitialized variable.
    Importance importance;

    // Call Enum.TryParse method.
    if (Enum.TryParse(value, out importance))
    {
        // We now have an enum type.
        Console.WriteLine(importance == Importance.Medium);
    }
    }
}

Reference : http://www.dotnetperls.com/enum-parse