How should I convert a string to an enum in C#?

Question

What's the best way to convert a string to an enumeration value in C#?

I have an HTML select tag containing the values of an enumeration. When the page is posted, I want to pick up the value (which will be in the form of a string) and convert it to the enumeration value.

In an ideal world, I could do something like this:

StatusEnum MyStatus = StatusEnum.Parse("Active");

but that isn't a valid code.

Answer 1

public static T ParseEnum<T>(string value)            //function declaration  
{
    return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value);
}

Importance imp = EnumUtil.ParseEnum<Importance>("Active");   //function call

====================A Complete Program====================

using System;

class Program
{
    enum PetType
    {
    None,
    Cat = 1,
    Dog = 2
    }

    static void Main()
    {

    // Possible user input:
    string value = "Dog";

    // Try to convert the string to an enum:
    PetType pet = (PetType)Enum.Parse(typeof(PetType), value);

    // See if the conversion succeeded:
    if (pet == PetType.Dog)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Equals dog.");
    }
    }
}
-------------
Output

Equals dog.

Answer 2

I like the extension method solution..

namespace System
{
    public static class StringExtensions
    {

        public static bool TryParseAsEnum<T>(this string value, out T output) where T : struct
        {
            T result;

            var isEnum = Enum.TryParse(value, out result);

            output = isEnum ? result : default(T);

            return isEnum;
        }
    }
}

Here below my implementation with tests.

using static Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting.Assert;
using static System.Console;

private enum Countries
    {
        NorthAmerica,
        Europe,
        Rusia,
        Brasil,
        China,
        Asia,
        Australia
    }

   [TestMethod]
        public void StringExtensions_On_TryParseAsEnum()
        {
            var countryName = "Rusia";

            Countries country;
            var isCountry = countryName.TryParseAsEnum(out country);

            WriteLine(country);

            IsTrue(isCountry);
            AreEqual(Countries.Rusia, country);

            countryName = "Don't exist";

            isCountry = countryName.TryParseAsEnum(out country);

            WriteLine(country);

            IsFalse(isCountry);
            AreEqual(Countries.NorthAmerica, country); // the 1rst one in the enumeration
        }