Mitc.Support.Enumeration

A base class for creating strongly-typed enumeration classes — an alternative to C# enum that supports string values, rich behavior, and easy extensibility.

Defining an Enumeration

Declare a class that extends Enumeration<T> with static readonly fields for each member:

public class OrderStatus : Enumeration<OrderStatus>
{
    public static readonly OrderStatus Pending  = new("Pending");
    public static readonly OrderStatus Shipped  = new("Shipped");
    public static readonly OrderStatus Delivered = new("Delivered");
    public static readonly OrderStatus Cancelled = new("Cancelled");
}

Each member is automatically assigned a sequential integer ID based on declaration order. To use stable, explicit IDs instead:

public static readonly OrderStatus Pending = new(1, "Pending");

Usage

Get all members

OrderStatus[] all = OrderStatus.Values();

Parse from string or int

OrderStatus status = OrderStatus.Parse("shipped");   // case-insensitive
OrderStatus status = OrderStatus.Parse(2);           // by id

if (OrderStatus.TryParse("unknown", null, out var result))
    // result is the matched value

Compare

if (order.Status == OrderStatus.Shipped) { }
if (order.Status == "Shipped") { }           // string comparison
if (order.Status == 2) { }                   // id comparison
if (order.Status > OrderStatus.Pending) { }  // ordering by declaration order

Cast

string s = (string)OrderStatus.Shipped;   // "Shipped"
int id   = (int)OrderStatus.Shipped;      // 2

OrderStatus a = (OrderStatus)"Shipped";
OrderStatus b = (OrderStatus)2;

Display

Console.WriteLine(OrderStatus.Shipped);  // "Shipped"

JSON Serialization

On .NET 5+, register EnumerationJsonConverter<T> to serialize/deserialize as a string:

builder.Services.AddControllers().AddJsonOptions(o =>
{
    o.JsonSerializerOptions.Converters.Add(new EnumerationJsonConverter<OrderStatus>());
});

Or per-property:

[JsonConverter(typeof(EnumerationJsonConverter<OrderStatus>))]
public OrderStatus Status { get; set; }

Model Binding / TypeConverter

Register EnumerationTypeConverter<T> to support model binding and TypeDescriptor-based conversion from strings:

[TypeConverter(typeof(EnumerationTypeConverter<OrderStatus>))]
public class OrderStatus : Enumeration<OrderStatus> { ... }

Target Frameworks

netstandard2.0, net5.0, net6.0, net7.0, net8.0, net9.0, net10.0

On .NET 7+, Enumeration<T> additionally implements IParsable<T>, IEqualityOperators<T, T, bool>, and IComparisonOperators<T, T, bool>.