476
votes

I have an enum construct like this:

public enum EnumDisplayStatus
{
    None    = 1,
    Visible = 2,
    Hidden  = 3,
    MarkedForDeletion = 4
}

In my database, the enumerations are referenced by value. My question is, how can I turn the number representation of the enum back to the string name.

For example, given 2 the result should be Visible.

13
I believe, now there is an easier way to do this with VS 2015 nameof(EnumDisplayStatus.Visible) Hope it helps somebodyGabriel Marius Popescu
@Gabriel: But! That returns the compile-time name of the variable or object passed in. So.... var x = MyEnum.Visible; nameof(x) would produce "x", not "Visible".Devin Burke

13 Answers

624
votes

You can convert the int back to an enumeration member with a simple cast, and then call ToString():

int value = GetValueFromDb();
var enumDisplayStatus = (EnumDisplayStatus)value;
string stringValue = enumDisplayStatus.ToString();
211
votes

If you need to get a string "Visible" without getting EnumDisplayStatus instance you can do this:

int dbValue = GetDBValue();
string stringValue = Enum.GetName(typeof(EnumDisplayStatus), dbValue);
180
votes

Try this:

string m = Enum.GetName(typeof(MyEnumClass), value);
74
votes

Use this:

string bob = nameof(EnumDisplayStatus.Visible);
26
votes

you can just cast it

int dbValue = 2;
EnumDisplayStatus enumValue = (EnumDisplayStatus)dbValue;
string stringName = enumValue.ToString(); //Visible

ah.. kent beat me to it :)

26
votes

The fastest, compile time solution using nameof expression.

Returns the literal type casing of the enum or in other cases, a class, struct, or any kind of variable (arg, param, local, etc).

public enum MyEnum {
    CSV,
    Excel
}


string enumAsString = nameof(MyEnum.CSV)
// enumAsString = "CSV"

Note:

  • You wouldn't want to name an enum in full uppercase, but used to demonstrate the case-sensitivity of nameof.
18
votes

SOLUTION:

int enumValue = 2; // The value for which you want to get string 
string enumName = Enum.GetName(typeof(EnumDisplayStatus), enumValue);

Also, using GetName is better than Explicit casting of Enum.

[Code for Performance Benchmark]

Stopwatch sw = new Stopwatch (); sw.Start (); sw.Stop (); sw.Reset ();
double sum = 0;
int n = 1000;
Console.WriteLine ("\nGetName method way:");
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
   sw.Start ();
   string t = Enum.GetName (typeof (Roles), roleValue);
   sw.Stop ();
   sum += sw.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds;
   sw.Reset ();
}
Console.WriteLine ($"Average of {n} runs using Getname method casting way: {sum / n}");
Console.WriteLine ("\nExplicit casting way:");
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
   sw.Start ();
   string t = ((Roles)roleValue).ToString ();
   sw.Stop ();
   sum += sw.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds;
   sw.Reset ();
}
Console.WriteLine ($"Average of {n} runs using Explicit casting way: {sum / n}");

[Sample result]

GetName method way:
Average of 1000 runs using Getname method casting way: 0.000186899999999998
Explicit casting way:
Average of 1000 runs using Explicit casting way: 0.000627900000000002
14
votes

DB to C#

EnumDisplayStatus status = (EnumDisplayStatus)int.Parse(GetValueFromDb());

C# to DB

string dbStatus = ((int)status).ToString();
5
votes

Just need:

string stringName = EnumDisplayStatus.Visible.ToString("f");
// stringName == "Visible"
4
votes

For getting the String value [Name]:

EnumDisplayStatus enumDisplayStatus = (EnumDisplayStatus)GetDBValue();
string stringValue = $"{enumDisplayStatus:G}"; 

And for getting the enum value:

string stringValue = $"{enumDisplayStatus:D}";
SetDBValue(Convert.ToInt32(stringValue ));
4
votes

i have used this code given below

 CustomerType = ((EnumCustomerType)(cus.CustomerType)).ToString()
2
votes

Just cast the int to the enumeration type:

EnumDisplayStatus status = (EnumDisplayStatus) statusFromDatabase;
string statusString = status.ToString();
1
votes

Simply you can do this.

public enum EnumDisplayStatus
{
    None    = 1,
    Visible = 2,
    Hidden  = 3,
    MarkedForDeletion = 4
}

int value = 2;    
string stringValue = ((EnumDisplayStatus)value).ToString();