number of values in enum

What's the fastests way to find a number of values in enum.

I came up with this. but I think it's over kill.
enum Type
{
VAL1,
VAL2,
VAL3
}

int Enum.GetValues(typeof(TestType)).Length;

basically, I want to list available string representation of enum
members, and comma delimit them, and skip comma after the last
element. Output should look:

VAL1, VAL2, VAL3

Here is what I have thus far:
int =0;
foreach (Type type in Enum.GetValues(typeof(Type)))
{
Console.Write(type);
if(i++< Enum.GetValues(typeof(TestType)).Length)
Console.Write(", ");
}
}
Thanks

re: number of values in enum

On Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:26:02 -0700, puzzlecracker <ironsel2000@gmail.com>
wrote:
I think you found it.
Why is that overkill? (Not counting that I don't think you should be
using the name "Type", given that it conflicts with the System.Type type).
I think you meant "if(++i< Enum.GetValues(typeof(TestType)).Length)" or
possibly "if(i++< Enum.GetValues(typeof(TestType)).Length - 1)". But
anyway...

Technically speaking you don't actually need to know the length:

bool fFirst = true;

foreach (Type type in Enum.GetValues(typeof(Type)))
{
if (fFirst)
{
fFirst = false;
}
else
{
Console.Write(", ");
}
Console.Write(type);
}

If you really wanted to use the length, but were concerned that getting it
would be expensive, you would get the length just once (it's not going to
change during the loop, after all):

int itypeLast = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Type)).Length - 1;

for (int itype = 0; itype < Enum.GetValues(typeof(Type)).Length;
itype++)
{
Console.Write(type);
if (itype < itypeLast)
{
Console.Write(", ");
}
}

Of course, you could avoid both the boolean or the comparison against the
last element index:

for (int itype = 0; itype < Enum.GetValues(typeof(Type)).Length;
itype++)
{
if (itype 0)
{
Console.Write(", ");
}
Console.Write(type);
}

Finally, note: in the for() loops above, because the compiler is able to
notice that the Length property is invariant during the loop, it retrieves
it only once at the beginning of the loop. If for some reason you
couldn't count on that optimization (for example, you were dealing with a
collection that the compiler can't verify as invariant for the loop, but
which you know is), you could also retrieve the length outside the loop
and use that.

Pete

re: number of values in enum

How about:

Console.Write(String.Join(", ", Enum.GetNames(typeof(TestType))));

Using a slightly different example:

enum myType
{
alpha,
bravo,
charley
}

I assumed you wanted "alpha, bravo, charley"
not "0, 1, 2"

I believe GetValues returns the numeric value of the enumerated type, but
GetNames returns the names.

re: number of values in enum

On Oct 16, 9:26*pm, puzzlecracker <ironsel2...@gmail.comwrote:Here's a simpler way:

StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (TestType element in Enum.GetValues(typeof(TestType))
{
if (builder.Length == 0)
{
builder.Append(", ");
}
builder.Append(element);
}
Console.Write(builder.ToString());

Prepending if it's not the first element means you don't need to know
whether or not it's the last element.

Of course you could generalise the above into a Join method:

string Join<T>(IEnumerable<Telements, string separator)
or
string Join(IEnumerable<stringelements, string separator)

The latter would be used with a LINQ to Objects "select" projection to
convert an element into a string.

It's a shame that string.Join currently works in terms of arrays :(

Jon