String Values¶

Overview¶

Any value type implementing IComparable<T> and notnull works as TValue. string is a common choice when you need enum values that are meaningful in serialization or external systems.

Defining a String-Valued Enum¶

using LayeredCraft.OptimizedEnums;

public sealed partial class Color : OptimizedEnum<Color, string>
{
    public static readonly Color Red   = new("red",   nameof(Red));
    public static readonly Color Green = new("green", nameof(Green));
    public static readonly Color Blue  = new("blue",  nameof(Blue));

    private Color(string value, string name) : base(value, name) { }
}

Using It¶

// Lookup by value (the string)
Color color = Color.FromValue("red");     // Color.Red

// Lookup by name (the C# identifier)
Color color = Color.FromName("Red");      // Color.Red

// Note: name and value are different!
color.Name  // "Red"
color.Value // "red"

Name vs. Value

Name is always the C# identifier used in the declaration (e.g., nameof(Red) → "Red"). Value is whatever you pass as the first constructor argument (e.g., "red"). They can differ — and often should for string-valued enums where you want different casing or format in serialized output.

Value Lookup Uses Equality¶

Value lookups for string use the default EqualityComparer<string>, which is ordinal/case-sensitive. If you need case-insensitive value lookups, consider normalizing the value at construction time.

Comparison¶

The base class CompareTo delegates to TValue.CompareTo. For string, this means lexicographic comparison using the default string comparer.

Other Value Types¶

Any comparable non-null type works:

// long values
public sealed partial class EventCode : OptimizedEnum<EventCode, long>
{
    public static readonly EventCode Login  = new(1001L, nameof(Login));
    public static readonly EventCode Logout = new(1002L, nameof(Logout));

    private EventCode(long value, string name) : base(value, name) { }
}