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

here is a working example of creating select options for a DDL

var resman = ViewModelResources.TimeFrame.ResourceManager;

ViewBag.TimeFrames = from MapOverlayTimeFrames timeFrame 
      in Enum.GetValues(typeof(MapOverlayTimeFrames))
      select new SelectListItem
      {
         Value = timeFrame.ToString(),
         Text = resman.GetString(timeFrame.ToString()) ?? timeFrame.ToString()
      };

Answer 2

foreach (Suit suit in Enum.GetValues(typeof(Suit))) { }

I've heard vague rumours that this is terifically slow. Anyone know? – Orion Edwards Oct 15 '08 at 1:31 7

I think caching the array would speed it up considerably. It looks like you're getting a new array (through reflection) every time. Rather:

Array enums = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Suit));
foreach (Suit suitEnum in enums) 
{
    DoSomething(suitEnum);
}

That's at least a little faster, ja?