Question

I am parsing some enum values from a text file. In order to simplify things I am using functions like the following:

(The sample code here uses C++/CLI but answers in C# are also welcome.)

bool TryParseFontStyle(String ^string, FontStyle% style){
    try {
        FontStyle ^refStyle = dynamic_cast<FontStyle^>(
            Enum::Parse(FontStyle::typeid, string));
        if(refStyle == nullptr)
            return false;
            style = *refStyle;
        return true;
    }
    catch(Exception ^e){
        return false;
    }
}

Now I need to rewrite similar functions for each enum type that I am parsing. How do I use generics to write one single function to handle any enum type?

Update: Found a similar question here: How to TryParse for Enum value?

Answer 1

public static bool TryParseEnum<T> (string value, out T result) where T : struct
{
    if (value == null)
    {
        result = default (T) ;
        return false ;
    }

    try
    {
        result = (T) Enum.Parse (typeof (T), value) ;
        return true  ;
    }
    catch (ArgumentException)
    {
        result = default (T) ;
        return false ;
    }
}