Enum.Format

This C# method changes enums to strings. It produces hexadecimal, digit and string values from an enumerated constant.

Format string info

The Enum.Format method uses format strings for this. Lowercase and uppercase make no difference. A single-char string argument can be passed to Enum.Format.

To begin, this program uses all 8 different formatting strings accepted by Enum.Format. We use a sample enum to demonstrate as well. The output shows the exact results of these formats.

using System;

class Program
{
    enum Importance
    {
        Low,
        Medium,
        Critical
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        M("G");
        M("g");
        M("X");
        M("x");
        M("F");
        M("f");
        M("D");
        M("d");
    }

    static void M(string format)
    {
        // Use Enum.Format with the specified format string.
        string value = Enum.Format(typeof(Importance), Importance.Critical, format);
        Console.WriteLine("{0} = {1}", format, value);
    }
}
G = Critical
g = Critical
X = 00000002
x = 00000002
F = Critical
f = Critical
D = 2
d = 2

Usage notes

What is the use of the Enum.Format method in a real program? It provides a standardized way to produce a string that represents either the name or the value of an enum type.

Summary

Enum.Format produces a string representation in a standardized format from an enumerated constant. It provides an alternative to the ToString method and casting.