Interface a static method for Enum

Question

Enum.valueOf() cannot be hidden by another static method valueOf of a concrete Enum type, but since I am creating my objects with reflection from text files I need a generic way to invoke valueOf.

Currently my Enum has a static class fromString():

public enum Fruits {

   APPLE, ORANGE, ...;

    public static Fruit fromString(String fruit) {
        ...
    }
}

But how could I interface such a method that when I am dealing with an enum field type I invoke the appropriate method? The only thing I can think of is:

• using a marker interface
• implement this static method for every enum
• invoke the static method via reflection

Is there another alternative which enforces this restriction?

Answer 1

If I understand correctly, you'll have a number of distinct enums that you want to integrate through the unique fromString method. What I have done is to make a separate class that accumulates all enum members into a single static final Map and the fromString method is implemented in terms of it.

All enums implement a common interface in my case because I have a number of custom methods that I need to call irrespective of the exact enum in question.