Enumerator Casting

Im trying to figure out why the following is making me cast the enumerator.

Here is the enumerator:

Code:

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public enum SecurityLevel { L1 = 0, L2, L3, L4, L5 }

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This code here works but forces me to cast the JSOEnum.Security

Code:

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JOSEnum.SecurityLevel test = (JOSEnum.SecurityLevel)Enum.Parse(typeof(JOSEnum), "test");

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This code does not work because it requires a cast.

Code:

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JOSEnum.SecurityLevel test = Enum.Parse(typeof(JOSEnum.SecurityLevel), "test");

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So my question is, why do I have to cast? Wouldn't the parse function take care of the type?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by user87347834

Wouldn't the parJOSEnum.SecurityLevele function take care of the type?

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Even though you are passing in the type using the typeof() call, the Enum.Parse method still can't return the correct type without a cast. Had the api authors had generics in .net 1.0, they probably would have written the parse method as generic. This would allow you to call Enum.Parse like:

Code:

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var securityLevel = Enum.Parse<SecurityLevel>(typeof(SecurityLevel), "L1");

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Unfortunately, generics weren't added until .net 2.0 so Enum.Parse wasn't written as generic, and as written, it requires a cast.

You can always write your own generic method ( or possibly even an extension method ):

Code:

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public T Parse<T>(string value) where T : enum
{
  return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value);
}

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This would allow...

Code:

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var securityLevel = Parse<SecurityLevel>("L1");

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