Question

I have the following code:

switch(first)
{
    case 'A':
        vm.Content = contentService.Get("0001000", vm.RowKey);
        return View("Article", vm);
    case 'F':
        vm.Content = contentService.Get("0002000", vm.RowKey);
        return View("FavoritesList", vm);
}

‘A’ refers to a page type of Article with a key of “0001000”
‘F’ refers to a page type of Favorite with a key of “0002000”

Is there a way in C# that I could avoid having to code in the keys as a string?
Some way that would allow me to code in by the key abbreviation or name
and then have C# convert this to a string?

Can I use Enum for this? This seems ideal but I am not sure how to set up an Enum.

Answer 1

You can use enums and use extension methods to allow an alternative text output.

The enum:

public enum PageTypes
{
    A,
    F
}

The extension method (needs to be in the top level of your project):

public static class Extensions
{
    public static string getText(this PageTypes type)
    {
        switch (type)
        {
            case PageTypes.A:
                return "0001000";
            case PageTypes.F:
                return "0002000";
            default:
                return null;
        }
    }
}

And your code:

PageTypes type;
//assing value to type:
//type = ...
var vm.Content = contentService.Get(type.getText(), vm.RowKey);
switch (type)
{
    case PageTypes.A:              
        return View("Article", vm);
    case PageTypes.F:
        return View("FavoritesList", vm);
}

Now you do not need to use strings to retrieve the values.