how to bind enum values to strings

Question

In my project there is an UI which contains a combobox and the combobox will list some communication protocol, such as TCP/IP, FTP and so on

I want to use an enum to present the communication protocols, maybe like this:

public enum CommuProtocol 
{
   TCPIP = 0,
   FTP,
   MPI,
   Other
}

so, how to bind the enum value to the text in combobox. For example, from the text selected in combobox I can easily know the corresponding enum value and vice versa. And I hope that will be easy to be extended in the future.

The text maybe not the same with the enum value, etc, TCP/IP vs TCPIP...

Thanks!

Skurmedel · Accepted Answer · 2010-01-14 08:57:19Z

5

Well, either you make a function which translates the values into strings or you ToString the value:

CommuProtocol prot = CommuProtocol.FTP;
string name = prot.ToString();

You can use the name of the enum member to get a proper value with the parse member of Enum:

CommuProtocol prot = System.Enum.Parse(CommuProtocol, "FTP");

However, since the names of the members might not be suitable for display it's possible that you'll end up making a method that translates the names anyway.

answered Jan 14, 2010 at 8:57

Skurmedel

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6 Comments

Carlos Liu Over a year ago

the prolbem is: the enum value is not the same with text, such as TCP/IP and TCPIP

Tony Over a year ago

Nice solution to use the ToString(), I was going to suggest the old C/C++ way of delaring an array of strings and using the enum as the index. I'm glad you replied before I did!

Skurmedel Over a year ago

Hehe thanks. I've had to do this quite a lot of times myself. Carlos: if you can't use the names, you'll have to devise a way to translate "TCP/IP" into "TCP" or the reverse. It could be as simple as a method with a big switch-statement in it. You are not using WPF are you? There is a more elegant way if so.

Carlos Liu Over a year ago

You are not using WPF are you? ------------------ No :-(

Ed Swangren Over a year ago

Nothing wrong with a switch to output the correct name. It is there for a reason!

|

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:32:56Z

2

You should go with Enum.GetValues() method. Here is an example: How do you bind an Enum to a DropDownList control in ASP.NET?

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:32

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 14, 2010 at 8:58

Rubens Farias

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Comments

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:34:58Z

2

This gets asked a lot. See the answers here.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:34

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 14, 2010 at 8:58

Oded

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