C#: Enhance Enums using Extension Methods

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C#: Enhance Enums using Extension Methods

published 11 months, 17 days ago, submitted by

crpietschmann 11 months, 18 days ago

pietschsoft.com — Extension Methods are one of the coolest features that have been added in .NET 3.5. I've heard arguments that there is no reason to use them, and the only reason Microsoft added them is to enable the ability to buid LINQ. Well, I do not entirely agree with that statement; in fact, I have found a cool way to use Extension Methods to enhance the System.Enum object since it cannot be inherited. Even though Enum can not be inherited, it can be extended using Extension Methods. Here's the code to an Extension Method that extends the LocalizationMarket Enum with the ToDescriptionString() method that returns the DescriptionAttributes value for the given enum value.

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C#: Enhance Enums using Extension Methods

tags: .net3.5, ExtensionMethods, C#, Enum, Tips | tag it

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Comments:

I think I'd prefer this, it's far more reusable:

public static A GetAttribute<A>(this Enum @enum)
where A : Attribute
{
if (!@enum.GetType().IsEnum)
return null;
object[] attributes = @enum.GetType().GetField(@enum.ToString()).GetCustomAttributes(typeof(A), false);
return attributes.Length > 0 ? (A)attributes[0] : null;
}

posted by

fquednau 11 months, 17 days ago

Oh, we still do smilies in code? *sigh*

posted by

fquednau 11 months, 17 days ago

All this extension method stuff scares me. It is kind of like inventing your own language for a program. Not sure if that is a good idea. Interesting though

posted by samdnp 11 months, 16 days ago