Converting a string to an enum

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Hi! I need to convert a string into its equivalent enum object. Although I could make an auxiliary function to do that, I wonder if C# can do that for me and I've found this article, but I'm afraid it doesn't work in Unity.

I've been searching here through Unity Answers but haven't been able to find a solution, can you help me?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Best Answer

Answer by taoa · Mar 14, 2011 at 01:09 PM

 YourEnumType parsed_enum = (YourEnumType)System.Enum.Parse( typeof(YourEnumType), your_string );

This works!

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Ignacio 1 · Mar 14, 2011 at 01:32 PM 0

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Great! $$anonymous$$any thanks!

Anxo · Jan 30, 2013 at 03:57 AM 0

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where does the string go?

Zarenityx · Jun 03, 2013 at 06:36 PM 0

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@Anxowtf

The initial string goes into the 'your_string' variable in the example code above. The function then looks for an entry in the specified enumeration that matches the given string and returns it.
Imagine the opposite of enum.ToString().

plingativator · Oct 15, 2014 at 10:53 PM 16

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I found I also needed to convert as in the code below:

YourEnumType parsed_enum = (YourEnumType)System.Enum.Parse( typeof( YourEnumType ), your_string );

luislodosm · Mar 07, 2017 at 10:10 PM 5

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I got an error. This fix it:

 YourEnumType yourEnum = (YourEnumType) System.Enum.Parse (typeof (YourEnumType), yourString);

Necrohunter luislodosm · Mar 30, 2020 at 10:11 AM 2

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hmmm correct me if im wrong, but this is the exact same code as he wrote

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Answer 2

Answer by Pro-senik · Feb 21, 2019 at 06:31 PM

Another option with detecting parse error would be:

 if( System.Enum.TryParse<YourEnumType>(yourString, out YourEnumType yourEnum) )
 {
         ... if string was correctly parsed, you can now use yourEnum variable
 }

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Bonfire-Boy · Feb 21, 2019 at 10:41 PM 0

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You've written the function call (partly) like a declaration. It should be

 YourEnumType yourEnum;
 if( System.Enum.TryParse<YourEnumType>(yourString, out yourEnum) )
 {
 }

Pro-senik Bonfire-Boy · Feb 22, 2019 at 12:57 AM 1

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As of C# 7.0 the ability to declare a variable right at the point where it is passed as an out argument was introduced.

Bonfire-Boy Pro-senik · Feb 22, 2019 at 08:52 AM 0

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Apologies, I didn't know that, that's a good development. How do I go about using it in Unity? Do I need to move to .Net 4 or something? I see that 3.5's on the way out so I guess that's a good idea anyway

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Bunny83 · Feb 25, 2019 at 11:57 AM 0

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Shouldn't it also work like this:

 if( System.Enum.TryParse(yourString, out YourEnumType yourEnum) )

Or did the adhoc variable declaration break the generic type inference features of the compiler? ^^

Pro-senik Bunny83 · Feb 25, 2019 at 01:08 PM 0

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You are correct, it can be simplified like this. I just wanted to implicitly show the whole struct of the method for better understanding.

Converting a string to an enum

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