Question

I’m using C# in my ASP.NET application, and there are some properties that I don’t want to store in the database. I would like to use a defined struct for these properties, like this:

public struct MedicalChartActions
    {
        public const int Open = 0;
        public const int SignOff = 1;
        public const int Review = 2;
    }

So I get the integer value when I use MedicalChartActions.Open which equals “0”, but how can I bind it to a DropDownList control so I can display the variable name? How can I get the variable name by the value? For example, how can I return “Open” if the value equals “0”?

Answer 1

Instead of using a structure, I would use an enumerator like SLaks suggested.

public enum MedicalChartActions : int
{ 
    Open = 0,
    SignOff = 1, 
    Review = 2
} 

Then you can do something like this:

var actions = from MedicalChartActions action in Enum.GetValues(typeof(MedicalChartActions))
              select new 
              { 
                  Name = action.ToString(), 
                  Value = (int)action; 
              };

DropDownList1.DataSource = actions.ToList();
DropDownList1.DataTextField = "Name";
DropDownList1.DataValueField = "Value";
DropDownList1.DataBind();

EDIT

Once you’ve changed the struct to an enum, you can get the name from the value like this:

int value = 0;
MedicalChartActions action = (MedicalChartActions)value;

string actionName = action.ToString();