Dynamically create an enum [duplicate]

Answer 1

Use EnumBuilder to create enums dynamically. This would require usage of Reflection.

STEP 1 : CREATING ENUM USING ASSEMBLY/ENUM BUILDER

// Get the current application domain for the current thread.
AppDomain currentDomain = AppDomain.CurrentDomain;

// Create a dynamic assembly in the current application domain,
// and allow it to be executed and saved to disk.
AssemblyName aName = new AssemblyName("TempAssembly");
AssemblyBuilder ab = currentDomain.DefineDynamicAssembly(aName, AssemblyBuilderAccess.RunAndSave);

// Define a dynamic module in "TempAssembly" assembly. For a single-
// module assembly, the module has the same name as the assembly.
ModuleBuilder mb = ab.DefineDynamicModule(aName.Name, aName.Name + ".dll");

// Define a public enumeration with the name "Elevation" and an 
// underlying type of Integer.
EnumBuilder eb = mb.DefineEnum("Elevation", TypeAttributes.Public, typeof(int));

// Define two members, "High" and "Low".
eb.DefineLiteral("Low", 0);
eb.DefineLiteral("High", 1);

// Create the type and save the assembly.
Type finished = eb.CreateType();
ab.Save(aName.Name + ".dll");

STEP 2: USING THE CREATED ENUM

System.Reflection.Assembly ass = System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom("TempAssembly.dll");
System.Type enumTest = ass.GetType("Elevation");
string[] values = enumTest .GetEnumNames();

Hope that helps

Answer 2

Probably, you should consider using a Dictionary<string, int> instead.

If you want to generate the enum at compile-time dynamically, you might want to consider T4.