Finding an enum value by its Description Attribute [duplicate]

Question

This may seem a little upside down faced, but what I want to be able to do is get an enum value from an enum by its Description attribute.

So, if I have an enum declared as follows:

enum Testing {     [Description("David Gouge")]     Dave = 1,     [Description("Peter Gouge")]     Pete = 2,     [Description("Marie Gouge")]     Ree = 3 } 

I'd like to be able to get 2 back by supplying the string "Peter Gouge".

As a starting point, I can iterate through the enum fields and grab the field with the correct attribute:

string descriptionToMatch = "Peter Gouge"; FieldInfo[] fields = typeof(Testing).GetFields();  foreach (FieldInfo field in fields) {     if (field.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false).Count() > 0)     {         if (((DescriptionAttribute)field.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false)[0]).Description == descriptionToMatch)         {          }     } } 

But then I'm stuck as to what to do in that inner if. Also not sure if this is the way to go in the first place.

Answer 1

Using the extension method described here :

Testing t = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Testing))                 .Cast<Testing>()                 .FirstOrDefault(v => v.GetDescription() == descriptionToMatch); 

If no matching value is found, it will return (Testing)0 (you might want to define a None member in your enum for this value)

Answer 2

return field.GetRawConstantValue(); 

You could of course cast it back to Testing if required.