How do I enumerate an enum in C#?

Question

How can you enumerate an enum in C#?

E.g. the following code does not compile:

public enum Suit 
{
    Spades,
    Hearts,
    Clubs,
    Diamonds
}

public void EnumerateAllSuitsDemoMethod() 
{
    foreach (Suit suit in Suit) 
    {
        DoSomething(suit);
    }
}

And gives the following compile-time error:

'Suit' is a 'type' but is used like a 'variable'

It fails on the Suit keyword, the second one.

Answer 1

If you need speed and type checking at build and run time, this helper method is better than using LINQ to cast each element:

public static T[] GetEnumValues<T>() where T : struct, IComparable, IFormattable, IConvertible
{
    if (typeof(T).BaseType != typeof(Enum))
    {
        throw new ArgumentException(string.Format("{0} is not of type System.Enum", typeof(T)));
    }
    return Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)) as T[];
}

And you can use it like below:

static readonly YourEnum[] _values = GetEnumValues<YourEnum>();

Of course you can return IEnumerable<T>, but that buys you nothing here.

Answer 2

What if you know the type will be an enum, but you don't know what the exact type is at compile time?

public class EnumHelper
{
    public static IEnumerable<T> GetValues<T>()
    {
        return Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)).Cast<T>();
    }

    public static IEnumerable getListOfEnum(Type type)
    {
        MethodInfo getValuesMethod = typeof(EnumHelper).GetMethod("GetValues").MakeGenericMethod(type);
        return (IEnumerable)getValuesMethod.Invoke(null, null);
    }
}

The method getListOfEnum uses reflection to take any enum type and returns an IEnumerable of all enum values.

Usage:

Type myType = someEnumValue.GetType();

IEnumerable resultEnumerable = getListOfEnum(myType);

foreach (var item in resultEnumerable)
{
    Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Item: {0} Value: {1}",item.ToString(),(int)item));
}

Answer 3

Some versions of the .NET framework do not support Enum.GetValues. Here's a good workaround from Ideas 2.0: Enum.GetValues in Compact Framework:

public List<Enum> GetValues(Enum enumeration)
{
   List<Enum> enumerations = new List<Enum>();
   foreach (FieldInfo fieldInfo in enumeration.GetType().GetFields(
         BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public))
   {
      enumerations.Add((Enum)fieldInfo.GetValue(enumeration));
   }
   return enumerations;
}

As with any code that involves reflection, you should take steps to ensure it runs only once and results are cached.

Answer 4

Why is no one using Cast<T>?

var suits = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Suit)).Cast<Suit>();

There you go IEnumerable<Suit>.

Answer 5

Just to add my solution, which works in compact framework (3.5) and supports type checking at compile time:

public static List<T> GetEnumValues<T>() where T : new() {
    T valueType = new T();
    return typeof(T).GetFields()
        .Select(fieldInfo => (T)fieldInfo.GetValue(valueType))
        .Distinct()
        .ToList();
}

public static List<String> GetEnumNames<T>() {
    return typeof (T).GetFields()
        .Select(info => info.Name)
        .Distinct()
        .ToList();
}

- If anyone knows how to get rid of the T valueType = new T(), I'd be happy to see a solution.

A call would look like this:

List<MyEnum> result = Utils.GetEnumValues<MyEnum>();

Answer 6

What the hell I'll throw my two pence in, just by combining the top answers I through together a very simple extension

public static class EnumExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Gets all items for an enum value.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="value">The value.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static IEnumerable<T> GetAllItems<T>(this Enum value)
    {
        return (T[])Enum.GetValues(typeof (T));
    }
}

Clean simple and by @Jeppe-Stig-Nielsen s comment fast.