enum description value to dropdownlist

Question

I am new to C# and I have a question,

I have aa enum something like

   public enum
        {
    [Description("1,2,3")]
    123,
    [Description("3,4,5")]
    345,
    [Description("6,7,8 ")]
    678,
       }

Now I want the enum descriptions to bind to a dropdownlist.. can some one help me..

thanks in advance!

PS: I am sorry if I am not clear..Let me know if I need to be more specific

Answer 1

public static class EnumExtensionMethods
{
    public static string GetDescription(this Enum enumValue)
    {
        object[] attr = enumValue.GetType().GetField(enumValue.ToString())
            .GetCustomAttributes(typeof (DescriptionAttribute), false);

        return attr.Length > 0 
           ? ((DescriptionAttribute) attr[0]).Description 
           : enumValue.ToString();            
    }

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

//Usage with an ASP.NET DropDownList
foreach(MyEnum value in Enum.GetValues<MyEnum>())
   myDDL.Items.Add(New ListItem(value.GetDescription(), value.ToString())
...
var selectedEnumValue = myDDL.SelectedItem.Value.ParseEnum<MyEnum>()

//Usage with a WinForms ComboBox
foreach(MyEnum value in Enum.GetValues<MyEnum>())
   myComboBox.Items.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, MyEnum>(value.GetDescription(), value));

myComboBox.DisplayMember = "Key";
myComboBox.ValueMember = "Value";
...
var selectedEnumValue = myComboBox.SelectedItem.Value;

These two extension methods have been invaluable to me for going on 5 years and two different jobs, for exactly your stated need.

Answer 2

This is how you would write it:

public enum Test
{
  [Description("1,2,3")]
  a = 123,
  [Description("3,4,5")]
  b = 345,
  [Description("6,7,8")]
  c = 678
}

//Get attributes from the enum
    var items = 
       typeof(Test).GetEnumNames()
        .Select (x => typeof(Test).GetMember(x)[0].GetCustomAttributes(
           typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false))
        .SelectMany(x => 
           x.Select (y => new ListItem(((DescriptionAttribute)y).Description)))

//Add items to ddl
    foreach(var item in items)
       ddl.Items.Add(item);

Answer 3

You could build a wrapper class that looks for the DescriptionAttribute on each member and displays that. Then bind to the wrapper instance. Something like this:

Get the Enum<T> value Description