no white spaces in enum

[MVPenn]

I have created a custom web control and I've added a property that will display a list of given values. I created a enum type and set my enumerators list values, but I can't have any white spaces in my list. How can I show list values that have white spaces using the enum type? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks in advance. MVPenn

[Dave Kreskowiak]

You can't. Enums are for your code to understand. Essentially like giving a code-usable name to a value, kind of like a variable. They're not meant for use as a UI element. What are trying to do with this?

Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP - Visual Basic

[MVPenn]

I wanted to show a more "user friendly" description in the listbox on my web control property. For example: public enum Diseases { Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, ...} public enum fonts {Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Arial, ...} I'm not sure if I should be using the enum type to populate a list property on a custom web control. Is there a better solution to accomplish this? I'm relatively new to development and would appreciate any suggestions that you might have on this. Thanks for your response. MVPenn

[Stefan Troschuetz]

MVPenn wrote:

I'm not sure if I should be using the enum type to populate a list property on a custom web control.

Obviously you can't, at least not the way you want to.

MVPenn wrote:

Is there a better solution to accomplish this?

The easiest thing that comes to my mind is declaring a simple string array:

public string[] Diseases = new string[] { "Hepatitis A", "Hepatitis B" };

---

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." - Rick Cook

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[Pete OHanlon]

Try this:

public static string EnumHelper(Enum value)
{
  // Set the description to the name of the enumeration.
  // That way, if there's no Description attribute, we still
  // have a description to return.
  description = value.ToString();

  MemberInfo[] mi = value.GetType().GetMember(value.ToString());
  if (mi != null && mi.Length > 0)
  {
    object[] att = mi[0].GetCustomAttributes(typeof(Description), false);
    if (att != null  && att.Length > 0)
      description = ((Description)att[0]).Text;
  }
  return description;
}

Then, in your enumeration all you need to do is:

public enum Diseases
{
  [Description("Hepatitis A")]
  HepatitisA,
  Eczema,
}

Then, in your code you will do the following:

string hepA = EnumHelper(Diseases.HepatitisA);

This returns Hepatitis A.

string ex = EnumHelper(Diseases.Eczema);

returns Eczema. I hope this helps.

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[Wjousts]

MVPenn wrote:

public enum Diseases { Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, ...} public enum fonts {Arial Black, Arial Narrow, Arial, ...}

In the past I've done something like this: public enum Diseases { Hepatitis_A, Hepatitis_B, ...} And when you need to display the "friendly" values just use the String.Replace function to get rid of the underscores.

[Dave Kreskowiak]

I've never hard coded anything in a enum like this. I've always put my options like this is a database or XML file. It's easier to modify that file than it is to modify the code and deploy a new app if the options change.

Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP - Visual Basic

[e laj]

Hi MVPenn, Create your own attribute (you may wish to call it EnumDescription). You can find some examples over the net. For example: Example Recall that if you want to display friendly names for property name - you can use the "DisplayName" attribute. Unfortunately, this attribute can not be applied for enum members. Hence (as i said before) have to create your own enum description attribute. elaj