How can I cast int to enum?

Question

How can an int be cast to an enum in C#?

Answer 1

This parses integers or strings to a target enum with partial matching in .NET 4.0 using generics like in Tawani's utility class. I am using it to convert command-line switch variables which may be incomplete. Since an enum cannot be null, you should logically provide a default value. It can be called like this:

var result = EnumParser<MyEnum>.Parse(valueToParse, MyEnum.FirstValue);

Here's the code:

using System;

public class EnumParser<T> where T : struct
{
    public static T Parse(int toParse, T defaultVal)
    {
        return Parse(toParse + "", defaultVal);
    }
    public static T Parse(string toParse, T defaultVal)
    {
        T enumVal = defaultVal;
        if (defaultVal is Enum && !String.IsNullOrEmpty(toParse))
        {
            int index;
            if (int.TryParse(toParse, out index))
            {
                Enum.TryParse(index + "", out enumVal);
            }
            else
            {
                if (!Enum.TryParse<T>(toParse + "", true, out enumVal))
                {
                    MatchPartialName(toParse, ref enumVal);
                }
            }
        }
        return enumVal;
    }

    public static void MatchPartialName(string toParse, ref T enumVal)
    {
        foreach (string member in enumVal.GetType().GetEnumNames())
        {
            if (member.ToLower().Contains(toParse.ToLower()))
            {
                if (Enum.TryParse<T>(member + "", out enumVal))
                {
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

FYI: The question was about integers, which nobody mentioned will also explicitly convert in Enum.TryParse()

Answer 2

I need two instructions:

YourEnum possibleEnum = (YourEnum)value; // There isn't any guarantee that it is part of the enum
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(YourEnum), possibleEnum))
{
    // Value exists in YourEnum
}

Answer 3

Alternatively, use an extension method instead of a one-liner:

public static T ToEnum<T>(this string enumString)
{
    return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof (T), enumString);
}

Usage:

Color colorEnum = "Red".ToEnum<Color>();

OR

string color = "Red";
var colorEnum = color.ToEnum<Color>();

Answer 4

If you're ready for the 4.0 .NET Framework, there's a new Enum.TryParse() function that's very useful and plays well with the [Flags] attribute. See Enum.TryParse Method (String, TEnum%)

Answer 5

Different ways to cast to and from Enum

enum orientation : byte
{
 north = 1,
 south = 2,
 east = 3,
 west = 4
}

class Program
{
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
    orientation myDirection = orientation.north;
    Console.WriteLine(“myDirection = {0}”, myDirection); //output myDirection =north
    Console.WriteLine((byte)myDirection); //output 1

    string strDir = Convert.ToString(myDirection);
        Console.WriteLine(strDir); //output north

    string myString = “north”; //to convert string to Enum
    myDirection = (orientation)Enum.Parse(typeof(orientation),myString);


 }
}

Answer 6

You can use an extension method.

public static class Extensions
{

    public static T ToEnum<T>(this string data) where T : struct
    {
        if (!Enum.TryParse(data, true, out T enumVariable))
        {
            if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(T), enumVariable))
            {
                return enumVariable;
            }
        }

        return default;
    }

    public static T ToEnum<T>(this int data) where T : struct
    {
        return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), data);
    }
}

Use it like the below code:

Enum:

public enum DaysOfWeeks
{
    Monday = 1,
    Tuesday = 2,
    Wednesday = 3,
    Thursday = 4,
    Friday = 5,
    Saturday = 6,
    Sunday = 7,
}

Usage:

 string Monday = "Mon";
 int Wednesday = 3;
 var Mon = Monday.ToEnum<DaysOfWeeks>();
 var Wed = Wednesday.ToEnum<DaysOfWeeks>();