Enum design question?

[Donal McWeeney]

Hi,

I have a quick question on a design approach using enums - based on the
model of something like the HtmlTextWriterTag enum. I presume that what the
text writer does is use the Enum.GetName method to convert the enum value to
its corresponding tag string.

My question is, which is better and less overhead - using this enum approach
or declare a sealed class of string constants.

Thanks

Donal

[Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]]

Donal,

Well, if you use a sealed class of string constants, then you will have
to use reflection in order to find the value. I assume the Enum class does
something similar (maybe there is some optimization in there), so I would go
with that. Also, it makes it easier, as you don't have to write the code to
do the lookup.

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- nick(dot)paldino=at=exisconsulting<dot>com

"Donal McWeeney" <do************@NO-SP-AM.aimware.com> wrote in message
news:un**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Hi,

I have a quick question on a design approach using enums - based on the
model of something like the HtmlTextWriterTag enum. I presume that what the text writer does is use the Enum.GetName method to convert the enum value to its corresponding tag string.

My question is, which is better and less overhead - using this enum approach or declare a sealed class of string constants.

Thanks

Donal

[Donal McWeeney]

Thanks for the quick reply...

"Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]" <ni**************@exisconsulting.com> wrote
in message news:eL**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

Donal,

Well, if you use a sealed class of string constants, then you will have to use reflection in order to find the value. I assume the Enum class does something similar (maybe there is some optimization in there), so I would go with that. Also, it makes it easier, as you don't have to write the code to do the lookup.

Hope this helps.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- nick(dot)paldino=at=exisconsulting<dot>com

"Donal McWeeney" <do************@NO-SP-AM.aimware.com> wrote in message
news:un**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Hi,

I have a quick question on a design approach using enums - based on the
model of something like the HtmlTextWriterTag enum. I presume that what the

text writer does is use the Enum.GetName method to convert the enum

value to

its corresponding tag string.

My question is, which is better and less overhead - using this enum

approach

or declare a sealed class of string constants.

Thanks

Donal

[Donal McWeeney]

Just thinking about your reply - If I was using a sealed class of string
constants I would be using the constants for passing to arguments to
methods - I would be doing the same with the enum - but using the enum then
I would have to use the GetName method to get the string value - wheras with
the string constant I'd already have it...

[Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]]

Donal,

If the constants were strings, then yes, you would have it already.
However, in the enumeration, the values are numeric. If your constants were
numeric, then you would still need to use reflection to get the name
associated with the value.
--
- Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
- nick(dot)paldino=at=exisconsulting<dot>com

"Donal McWeeney" <do************@NO-SP-AM.aimware.com> wrote in message
news:eN**************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

Just thinking about your reply - If I was using a sealed class of string
constants I would be using the constants for passing to arguments to
methods - I would be doing the same with the enum - but using the enum then I would have to use the GetName method to get the string value - wheras with the string constant I'd already have it...

[Jeff Louie]

Since this is not an obvious idiom. Here is a sample for lurkers.

sealed class MyEnum
{
*** private String name;
*** private static int nextOrdinal= 1;
*** private int ordinal= nextOrdinal++;
*** private MyEnum(String name)
*** {
******* this.name= name;
*** }
*** public override String ToString()
*** {
******* return name;
*** }
*** public int ToOrdinal()
*** {
******* return ordinal;
*** }
*** public static MyEnum INVALID= new MyEnum("Invalid"); // ordinal 1
*** public static MyEnum OPENED= new MyEnum("Opened"); // ordinal 2
*** public static MyEnum CLOSED=new MyEnum("Closed"); // ordinal 3
*** /// <summary>
*** /// The main entry point for the application.
*** /// </summary>
*** [STAThread]
*** static void Main(string[] args)
*** {
******* //
******* // TODO: Add code to start application here
******* //
******* Console.WriteLine(MyEnum.OPENED.ToString());
******* Console.WriteLine(MyEnum.OPENED.ToOrdinal().ToStri ng());
******* Console.WriteLine(MyEnum.INVALID.ToString());
******* Console.WriteLine(MyEnum.INVALID.ToOrdinal().ToStr ing());
******* Console.WriteLine(MyEnum.CLOSED.ToString());
******* Console.WriteLine(MyEnum.CLOSED.ToOrdinal().ToStri ng());
******* Console.ReadLine();
*** }
}

Regards,
Jeff

If your constants were numeric, then you would still need to use

reflection to get the name
associated with the value.<
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[Donal McWeeney]

Thanks for the sample code... understood.

Donal