Best way to find if String is not in the list of ENUMs [duplicate]

Question

I need to find if given String is not in the list of ENUMs.

These Strings come back with spaces, i.e.: "CHILD CARE", "CREDIT CARDS", etc...

Any other ExpenseType should be mapped to OTHER, except HOA. HOA should be completely ignored.

My ENUMs are as follows:

public enum ExpenseType {
    AUTOLOAN("AUTO LOAN"),
    ALIMONY("ALIMONY"),
    CHILDCARE("CHILD CARE"),
    CREDITCARDS("CREDIT CARDS"),
    INSTALLMENTLOANS("INSTALLMENT LOANS"),
    FOOD("FOOD"),
    UTILITIES("UTILITIES"),
    TRANSPORTATION("TRANSPORTATION"),
    OTHER("OTHER");

    private String expenseType; 
    ExpenseType(String expenseType) {
        this.expenseType = expenseType;
    }   
    @Override public String toString() {
        return this.expenseType;
    }
}

The way I am doing this now is as follows:

String expenseDescription = expense.getExpenseDesc().replaceAll(" ", "");
if(EnumUtils.isValidEnum(ExpenseType.class, expenseDescription)) {
    monthlyExpenses.setType(ExpenseType.valueOf(expenseDescription).toString());
} 
else if(!expenseDescription.equals("HOA")) {
   monthlyExpenses.setType(ExpenseType.OTHER.toString());
}

Does anyone know a better way to do this?

Answer 1

Why not use getEnum to get Enum if applicable (check for null or use Optional if needed)

ExpenseType monthlyExpenses = EnumUtils.getEnum(ExpenseType.class, expenseDescription);

Gets the enum for the class, returning null if not found.

This method differs from Enum.valueOf(java.lang.Class, java.lang.String) in that it does not throw an exception for an invalid enum name.

Also prefer adding to enum a code (String) as a reference, which won't contains spaces and special characters, e.g.

//...
CHILDCARE("CHILD_CARE","CHILD CARE"),
//...
private String expenseType; 
private String expenseTypeCode; 
ExpenseType(String expenseType, String expenseTypeCode) {
    this.expenseType = expenseType;
    this.expenseTypeCode = expenseTypeCode;
}