CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netc#-3.0
user576510
user576510

Reputation: 5915

Other equivalent to enum?

I like to use enum as value holders whereever possible and I like it. It is easy to use i.e. just put a dot and see values. It is a good replacement of hard code some time.

But still it has some limitations. We cannot put special characters in values and some other.

Actually I am trying to make code reusable. Please guide me. Is there some technique or way that I can use some data structure like enum that is flexible but have no limitations.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 163

Answers (4)

KeithS
KeithS

Reputation: 71591

If I cannot use an enum for a set of predefined values, I use a class of static constants. They look much the same in use, but the values can be anything from a decimal to a string to a struct or class. I've done this for predefined cell color schemes in GridViews, much like the built-in Color class has predefined constant values. Mathematical and scientific constants such as e and Pi (if you wanted different values than are provided by the Math class), or the acceleration of gravity (9.8m/s2), or the speed of light (299,792,458m/s), can also be specified in this way.

If you think you can't use Enums because you need to store predefined string values, try this handy trick using the System.ComponentModel Description attribute:

public Enum MyStrings
{
   [Description("This is string one")] StringOne,
   [Description("This is a different string")] StringTwo,
   ...
}

To get the strings out, you simply examine the Description attribute, the code for which is a little messy but can be easily hidden behind an extension method:

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 
            : String.Empty;            
    }

Usage:

var stringOne = MyStrings.StringOne.GetDescription(); //"This is string one"

In this case, you can also consider using a Resource file. The value of the string can be changed from outside the scope of the program, without a recompile.

Upvotes: 4

Ed Bayiates
Ed Bayiates

Reputation: 11230

One issue you might find with enums and more especially constants is that if you change the source assembly which defines the enum or constant, but don't recompile dependent assemblies, you'll end up mismatching in the source and dependent assemblies. For example:

public const int myConst = 5;

You later change this to:

public const int myConst = 10;

In the source assembly, which was rebuilt, it's 10. But it's 5 in any dependent assemblies that were not rebuilt.

To avoid this, use readonly instead of const. For example:

public readonly int myConst = 5;

This is different than a const, which is more like a C++ #define which causes the value to be placed directly in code. Readonly will cause a lookup at runtime, so if you don't recompile your dependent assemblies you'll still get the correct, updated value.

Upvotes: 0

M4N
M4N

Reputation: 96606

Not sure what exactly you need (re: "special characters"), but you could simply use some constants and put them into a static class, e.g:

public static class MyConstants
{
    /// <summary>documentation here</summary>
    public const string ValueA = "somevalue";
    /// <summary>documentation here</summary>
    public const string ValueB = "something else with special characters &@";

    // etc.
}

Usage:

var x = MyConstants.ValueB;

Upvotes: 1

TJHeuvel
TJHeuvel

Reputation: 12618

You could use constants; they are immutable and can have any value. See also: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173119.aspx

Upvotes: 6

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