Reference enum instance directly without class in Kotlin

Question

In Kotlin, I'm unable to reference the instances of an enum directly when E is in the same file as the code where I use its instances:

enum class E {
    A, B
}

What I want to do:

val e = A    

What I can do:

val e = E.A

Is this possible?

Answer 1

Yes, this is possible!

In Kotlin, enum instances can be imported like most other things, so assuming enum class E is in the default package, you can just add import E.* to the top of the source file that would like to use its instances directly. For example:

import E.*
val a = A // now translates to E.A

Each instance can also be imported individually, instead of just importing everything in the enum:

import E.A
import E.B
//etc...

This also works even if the enum is declared in the same file:

import E.*
enum class E{A,B}
val a = A