Question

From this sample on MSDN:

[Flags] 
public enum Pet {
   None = 0,
   Dog = 1,
   Cat = 2,
   Bird = 4,
   Rabbit = 8,
   Other = 16
}

Is there anyway to let the enum generates its values automatically ?

Answer 1

Assuming that you really want a “flags” enum, there’s no automated way of doing this, no. The Pet example doesn’t seem like a good fit for flags, but I’m assuming that’s just an unfortunate choice of example. One option which reduces the possibility for error slightly is to use bit operations:

[Flags] 
public enum Pet {
   None = 0,
   Dog = 1 << 0,
   Cat = 1 << 1,
   Bird = 1 << 2,
   Rabbit = 1 << 3,
   Other = 1 << 4
}

If everything uses bit shifting, you know you won’t accidentally end up with a value which is actually multiple bits.