CA2217: Do not mark enums with FlagsAttribute

An externally visible enumeration is marked with FlagsAttribute and it has one or more values that are not powers of two or a combination of the other defined values on the enumeration.

An enumeration should have FlagsAttribute present only if each value defined in the enumeration is a power of two, or a combination of defined values.

To fix a violation of this rule, remove FlagsAttribute from the enumeration.

Do not suppress a warning from this rule.

The following example shows an enumeration, Color, that contains the value 3, which is neither a power of two, nor a combination of any of the defined values. The Color enumeration should not be marked with the FlagsAttribute.

using System;

namespace Samples
{    
    // Violates this rule    
    [FlagsAttribute]        
    public enum Color
    { 
        None    = 0, 
        Red     = 1, 
        Orange  = 3, 
        Yellow  = 4 
    }
}

The following example shows an enumeration, Days, that meets the requirements for being marked with the System.FlagsAttribute.

using System;

namespace Samples
{    
    [FlagsAttribute]    
    public enum Days    
    {        
        None        = 0,        
        Monday      = 1,        
        Tuesday     = 2,        
        Wednesday   = 4,        
        Thursday    = 8,        
        Friday      = 16,        
        All         = Monday| Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday    
    }
}

CA1027: Mark enums with FlagsAttribute

Reference