Comparing enum flags in C#

Question

I need to detect if a flag is set within an enum value, which type is marked with the Flag attribute.

Usually it is made like that:

(value & flag) == flag

But since I need to do this by generic (sometimes at runtime I event have only an "Enum" reference. I can not find an easy way to use the & operator. At the moment I make it like this:

    public static bool IsSet<T>(this T value, T flags) where T : Enum
    { 
        Type numberType = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(typeof(T));

        if (numberType.Equals(typeof(int)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<int>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(sbyte)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<sbyte>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(byte)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<byte>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(short)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<short>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(ushort)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<ushort>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(uint)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<uint>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(long)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<long>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(ulong)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<ulong>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(char)))
        {
            return BoxUnbox<char>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("Unknown enum underlying type " + numberType.Name + ".");
        }
    }


    private static bool BoxUnbox<T>(object value, object flags, Func<T, T, bool> op)
    {
        return op((T)value, (T)flags);
    }

But I don't like the never ending if - else blocks, so is there a way to cast these values that I can use the & operator or any other solution to check this?

Answer 1

For me it looks overcomplicated. How about this (keeping in mind that enum is always mapped to an integer value type):

public static bool IsSet<T>(T value, T flags) where T : struct
{
    // You can add enum type checking to be perfectly sure that T is enum, this have some cost however
    // if (!typeof(T).IsEnum)
    //     throw new ArgumentException();
    long longFlags = Convert.ToInt64(flags);
    return (Convert.ToInt64(value) & longFlags) == longFlags;
}

Answer 2

I wrote a set of extension methods for enums, in case you need it :

public static class EnumExtensions
{
    private static void CheckEnumWithFlags<T>()
    {
        if (!typeof(T).IsEnum)
            throw new ArgumentException(string.Format("Type '{0}' is not an enum", typeof(T).FullName));
        if (!Attribute.IsDefined(typeof(T), typeof(FlagsAttribute)))
            throw new ArgumentException(string.Format("Type '{0}' doesn't have the 'Flags' attribute", typeof(T).FullName));
    }

    public static bool IsFlagSet<T>(this T value, T flag) where T : struct
    {
        CheckEnumWithFlags<T>();
        long lValue = Convert.ToInt64(value);
        long lFlag = Convert.ToInt64(flag);
        return (lValue & lFlag) != 0;
    }

    public static IEnumerable<T> GetFlags<T>(this T value) where T : struct
    {
        CheckEnumWithFlags<T>();
        foreach (T flag in Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)).Cast<T>())
        {
            if (value.IsFlagSet(flag))
                yield return flag;
        }
    }

    public static T SetFlags<T>(this T value, T flags, bool on) where T : struct
    {
        CheckEnumWithFlags<T>();
        long lValue = Convert.ToInt64(value);
        long lFlag = Convert.ToInt64(flags);
        if (on)
        {
            lValue |= lFlag;
        }
        else
        {
            lValue &= (~lFlag);
        }
        return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), lValue);
    }

    public static T SetFlags<T>(this T value, T flags) where T : struct
    {
        return value.SetFlags(flags, true);
    }

    public static T ClearFlags<T>(this T value, T flags) where T : struct
    {
        return value.SetFlags(flags, false);
    }

    public static T CombineFlags<T>(this IEnumerable<T> flags) where T : struct
    {
        CheckEnumWithFlags<T>();
        long lValue = 0;
        foreach (T flag in flags)
        {
            long lFlag = Convert.ToInt64(flag);
            lValue |= lFlag;
        }
        return (T)Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), lValue);
    }
}

The main drawback is that you can't specify where T : Enum : it is explicitly forbidden ("Constraint cannot be special class 'System.Enum'"), so the extension methods will appear in intellisense for all structs... I added the CheckEnumWithFlags method to check that the type is actually an enum, and has the Flags attribute.

---

UPDATE : Jon Skeet recently started an interesting library called UnconstrainedMelody which does exactly the same sort of things, and works around the generic type constraint limitation mentioned above

Answer 3

This should do the job for enum types with any underlying types:

public static bool IsSet<T>(this T value, T flags) where T : struct
{
    return (Convert.ToInt64(value) & Convert.ToInt64(flags)) ==
        Convert.ToInt64(flags);
}

Convert.ToInt64 is used because a 64-bit integer is the "widest" integral type possible, to which all enum values can be cast (even ulong). Note that char is not a valid underlying type. It seems that it is not valid in C#, but it is in general valid in CIL/for the CLR.

Also, you can't enforce a generic type constraint for enums (i.e. where T : struct); the best you can do is use where T : struct to enforce T to be a value type, and then optionally perform a dynamic check to ensure that T is an enum type.

For completeness, here is my very brief test harness:

static class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Debug.Assert(Foo.abc.IsSet(Foo.abc));
        Debug.Assert(Bar.def.IsSet(Bar.def));
        Debug.Assert(Baz.ghi.IsSet(Baz.ghi));
    }

    enum Foo : int
    {
        abc = 1,
        def = 10,
        ghi = 100
    }

    enum Bar : sbyte
    {
        abc = 1,
        def = 10,
        ghi = 100
    }

    enum Baz : ulong
    {
        abc = 1,
        def = 10,
        ghi = 100
    }
}

Answer 4

Personally, I think that look fine because you've wrapped it into a single purpose function. If you had that code scattered through an entire program I think you would have some problems, but what you've created improves clarity everywhere it is used and the function itself is clear enough what it does.

Just my opinion of course.

You could though, use the is keyword, which might help a little

public static bool IsSet<T>(this T value, T flags) where T : Enum
{ 
    if (value is int)
    {
        return ((int)(object)a & (int)(object)b) == (int)(object)b);
    }
    //etc...