How to convert from string to string constant in struct?

Question

So I have this struct:

public struct PurchaseOrderStatus {
    public const string Open = "Open", Received = "Received";
}

How do I convert if I have the following:

    string status = "Open";

To:

    PurchaseOrderStatus.Open;

By Convert, I mean, how do I do this:

    PurchaseOrderStatus POS;
    String status = "Open";
    POS = status;

I assume that you mean the equivilant of an enum.Parse("Open") for a struct? Not sure that there is one without using reflection...I would refactor your stuct to an enum if you can. — Richard Hooper
– Richard Hooper, Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 16:15
Yea, that is what I mean. I couldn't use enum because enum only store integer and I need to store string. — Bill Software Engineer
– Bill Software Engineer, Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 16:16
You say "i need to store string", just curious why? You can convert an enum to string as well. i.e. MyEnum.Open.ToString() will yield the string "Open" — James Michael Hare
– James Michael Hare, Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 16:19

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-23 16:22:20Z

2

I would suggest using "smart enums" here:

public sealed class PurchaseOrderStatus
{
    public static readonly PurchaseOrderStatus Open =
        new PurchaseOrderStatus("Open");
    public static readonly PurchaseOrderStatus Received =
        new PurchaseOrderStatus("Received");

    private readonly string text;
    public string Text { get { return value; } }

    private PurchaseOrderStatus(string text)
    {
        this.text = text;
    }
}

You can store arbitrary information here, including text which wouldn't be valid identifiers (so long as it doesn't change, of course). It's still strongly typed (unlike your strings) and you can give other behaviour to it. You can even create subclasses if you remove the sealed modifier and add the subclasses as nested classes so they still have access to the private constructor.

Oh, and there's a genuinely limited set of values (the ones you've defined and null) unlike with regular enums.

The only downside is that you can't switch on it.

answered Jul 23, 2012 at 16:22

Jon Skeet

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1 Comment

Servy Over a year ago

If one is suitibly motivated you can also add onto this by adding 1) an intelligent Equals method 2) implicit conversion to string 3) explicit conversion from string 4) operator == overload 5) static enumeration of all possible values. Also consider whether you want it to be a class or a struct; either could be justified.

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