Question

if I have a very simple enum of ints like this.

  enum alignment { left, center, right}

Where I want the datatype to be an int, which I understand is the default, and the values to be left = 0, center = 1, right = 2.

But if I try and use a value from the enum like

header.Alignment = alignment.center;

I am told that I need to cast alignment.center to an int. which is no big deal but I am wondering if I am doing something wrong or is that just the way enums work.

Answer 1

if header.Alignment is of type int, then yes, you always have to cast to an int.

You could make header.Alignment of type alignment, and then you’d never have to cast. If you’re dealing with legacy or third-party code that only accepts an int, however, you’re out of luck.