Show User Friendly Enum Value Into The Combobox

Maulik Kansara
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In my previous article, we learned how to bind a combobox directly with the enum. However, while binding a combobox with enum, one can face a common problem that enum values are not user-friendly for display. So here, we will learn a way to show user-friendly enum names to end users.

Please note that here, I have considered the implementation mentioned in the previous article, so please check that first before going further.

Step1

Update “EnumClass” as mentioned below.

using System.ComponentModel;
public static class EnumClass
{
public enum Positions
{
Fresher = 1,
[Description("Entry Level")]
EntryLevel = 2,
Junior = 3,
[Description("Mid Level")]
MidLevel = 4,
Senior = 5,
[Description("Team Lead")]
TeamLead = 6,
[Description("Project Manager")]
ProjectManager = 7
};
}

As you can see here, we have added user-friendly description text for some of the enum values.

For Example, “EntryLevel” text is less user-Friendly then “Entry Level” for display.

Here, we have to add reference of “System.ComponentModel” namespace into the EnumClass File to define “Description” attribute above enum value.

Step 2

Now, we will implement IValueConverter to display enum description instead of enum value. For that, create a class called EnumDescriptionConverter as mentioned below.

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Windows.Data;
public class EnumDescriptionConverter : IValueConverter
{
private string GetEnumDescription(Enum enumObj)
{
if (enumObj == null)
{
return string.Empty;
}
FieldInfo fieldInfo = enumObj.GetType().GetField(enumObj.ToString());
object[] attribArray = fieldInfo.GetCustomAttributes(false);
if (attribArray.Length == 0)
{
return enumObj.ToString();
}
else
{
DescriptionAttribute attrib = attribArray[0] as DescriptionAttribute;
return attrib.Description;
}
}
object IValueConverter.Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
{
Enum myEnum = (Enum)value;
if (myEnum == null)
{
return null;
}
string description = GetEnumDescription(myEnum);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(description))
{
return description;
}
return myEnum.ToString();
}
object IValueConverter.ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
{
return string.Empty;
}
}

We are going to use this converter with binding. In addition, this converter will return description string to bound control instead of original enum value if defined.

Step 3

Now, we will move to XAML part to apply this converter with binding to display description instead of original enum value. First, we will add reference of implemented IValueConverter as a resource as mentioned below to use it in XAML file.

<Window.Resources>
<local:EnumDescriptionConverter x:Key="descConverter"></local:EnumDescriptionConverter>
</Window.Resources>

Then as per the previous article, we have bound combobox with enum values as mentioned below.

<ComboBox Height="25" ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource enmPositions}}" Margin="10,2,10,0"></ComboBox>

Now, we will add converter with ItemSource as mentioned below,

<ComboBox Height="25" ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource enmPositions}}" Margin="10,2,10,0">
<ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Converter={StaticResource descConverter}}"></TextBlock>
</DataTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
</ComboBox>