Is there a way to iterate through all enum values? [duplicate]

Answer 1

If you need the values of the combo to correspond to the values of the enum you can also use something like this:

foreach (TheEnum value in Enum.GetValues(typeof(TheEnum)))
    dropDown.Items.Add(new ListItem(
        value.ToString(), ((int)value).ToString()
    );

In this way you can show the texts in the dropdown and obtain back the value (in SelectedValue property)

Answer 2

string[] names = Enum.GetNames (typeof(MyEnum));

Then just populate the dropdown withe the array

Answer 3

I know others have already answered with a correct answer, however, if you're wanting to use the enumerations in a combo box, you may want to go the extra yard and associate strings to the enum so that you can provide more detail in the displayed string (such as spaces between words or display strings using casing that doesn't match your coding standards)

This blog entry may be useful - Associating Strings with enums in c#

public enum States
{
    California,
    [Description("New Mexico")]
    NewMexico,
    [Description("New York")]
    NewYork,
    [Description("South Carolina")]
    SouthCarolina,
    Tennessee,
    Washington
}

As a bonus, he also supplied a utility method for enumerating the enumeration that I've now updated with Jon Skeet's comments

public static IEnumerable<T> EnumToList<T>()
    where T : struct
{
    Type enumType = typeof(T);

    // Can't use generic type constraints on value types,
    // so have to do check like this
    if (enumType.BaseType != typeof(Enum))
        throw new ArgumentException("T must be of type System.Enum");

    Array enumValArray = Enum.GetValues(enumType);
    List<T> enumValList = new List<T>();

    foreach (T val in enumValArray)
    {
        enumValList.Add(val.ToString());
    }

    return enumValList;
}

Jon also pointed out that in C# 3.0 it can be simplified to something like this (which is now getting so light-weight that I'd imagine you could just do it in-line):

public static IEnumerable<T> EnumToList<T>()
    where T : struct
{
    return Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)).Cast<T>();
}

// Using above method
statesComboBox.Items = EnumToList<States>();

// Inline
statesComboBox.Items = Enum.GetValues(typeof(States)).Cast<States>();