Enum.ToString Method (String) (System)

.NET Framework Class Library

Enum..::.ToString Method (String)

Updated: August 2009

Converts the value of this instance to its equivalent string representation using the specified format.

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Function ToString ( _
    format As String _
) As String

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As Enum
Dim format As String
Dim returnValue As String

returnValue = instance.ToString(format)

public string ToString(
    string format
)

Visual C++

public:
String^ ToString(
    String^ format
)

JScript

public function ToString(
    format : String
) : String

Parameters

format: Type: System..::.String
A format string.

Return Value

Type: System..::.String
The string representation of the value of this instance as specified by format.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
FormatException	format contains an invalid specification.
InvalidOperationException	format equals "X", but the enumeration type is unknown.

Remarks

The format parameter can contain format characters "G" or "g", "D" or "d", "X" or "x", and "F" or "f". If format is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) or an empty string (""), the general format specifier ("G") is used. For more information about these format characters, see the Remarks section of the Format method. For more information about formatting in general, see Formatting Overview.

Notes to Callers:

If multiple enumeration members have the same underlying value and you attempt to retrieve the string representation of an enumeration member's name based on its underlying value, your code should not make any assumptions about which name the method will return. For example, the following enumeration defines two members, Shade.Gray and Shade.Grey, that have the same underlying value.

Visual Basic

Public Enum Shade
   White = 0
   Gray = 1
   Grey = 1
   Black = 2
End Enum

enum Shade
{
    White = 0, Gray = 1, Grey = 1, Black = 2 
}

The following method call attempts to retrieve the name of a member of the Shade enumeration whose underlying value is 1. The method can return either "Gray" or "Grey", and your code should not make any assumptions about which string will be returned.

Visual Basic

Dim shadeName As String = CType(1, Shade).ToString("F")

string shadeName = ((Shade) 1).ToString("F");

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to convert an enumerated value to a string.

Visual Basic

' Sample for Enum.ToString(String)
Imports System

Class Sample
   Enum Colors
      Red
      Green
      Blue
      Yellow = 12
   End Enum 'Colors

   Public Shared Sub Main()
      Dim myColor As Colors = Colors.Yellow

      Console.WriteLine("Colors.Red = {0}", Colors.Red.ToString("d"))
      Console.WriteLine("Colors.Green = {0}", Colors.Green.ToString("d"))
      Console.WriteLine("Colors.Blue = {0}", Colors.Blue.ToString("d"))
      Console.WriteLine("Colors.Yellow = {0}", Colors.Yellow.ToString("d"))

      Console.WriteLine("{0}myColor = Colors.Yellow{0}", Environment.NewLine)

      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""g"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("g"))
      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""G"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("G"))

      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""x"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("x"))
      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""X"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("X"))

      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""d"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("d"))
      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""D"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("D"))

      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""f"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("f"))
      Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(""F"") = {0}", myColor.ToString("F"))
   End Sub 'Main
End Class 'Sample
'
'This example produces the following results:
'
'Colors.Red = 0
'Colors.Green = 1
'Colors.Blue = 2
'Colors.Yellow = 12
'
'myColor = Colors.Yellow
'
'myColor.ToString("g") = Yellow
'myColor.ToString("G") = Yellow
'myColor.ToString("x") = 0000000C
'myColor.ToString("X") = 0000000C
'myColor.ToString("d") = 12
'myColor.ToString("D") = 12
'myColor.ToString("f") = Yellow
'myColor.ToString("F") = Yellow
'

// Sample for Enum.ToString(String)
using System;

class Sample 
{
    enum Colors {Red, Green, Blue, Yellow = 12};

    public static void Main() 
    {
    Colors myColor = Colors.Yellow;

    Console.WriteLine("Colors.Red = {0}", Colors.Red.ToString("d"));
    Console.WriteLine("Colors.Green = {0}", Colors.Green.ToString("d"));
    Console.WriteLine("Colors.Blue = {0}", Colors.Blue.ToString("d"));
    Console.WriteLine("Colors.Yellow = {0}", Colors.Yellow.ToString("d"));

    Console.WriteLine("{0}myColor = Colors.Yellow{0}", Environment.NewLine);

    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"g\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("g"));
    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"G\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("G"));

    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"x\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("x"));
    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"X\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("X"));

    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"d\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("d"));
    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"D\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("D"));    

    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"f\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("f"));
    Console.WriteLine("myColor.ToString(\"F\") = {0}", myColor.ToString("F"));
    }
}
/*
This example produces the following results:
Colors.Red = 0
Colors.Green = 1
Colors.Blue = 2
Colors.Yellow = 12

myColor = Colors.Yellow

myColor.ToString("g") = Yellow
myColor.ToString("G") = Yellow
myColor.ToString("x") = 0000000C
myColor.ToString("X") = 0000000C
myColor.ToString("d") = 12
myColor.ToString("D") = 12
myColor.ToString("f") = Yellow
myColor.ToString("F") = Yellow
*/

Visual C++

// Sample for Enum::ToString(String)

using namespace System;

enum class Colors
{
   Red, Green, Blue, Yellow = 12
};

int main()
{
   Colors myColor = Colors::Yellow;
   Console::WriteLine( "Colors::Red = {0}", Colors::Red.ToString( "d" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "Colors::Green = {0}", Colors::Green.ToString( "d" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "Colors::Blue = {0}", Colors::Blue.ToString( "d" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "Colors::Yellow = {0}", Colors::Yellow.ToString( "d" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( " {0}myColor = Colors::Yellow {0}", Environment::NewLine );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"g\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "g" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"G\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "G" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"x\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "x" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"X\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "X" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"d\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "d" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"D\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "D" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"f\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "f" ) );
   Console::WriteLine( "myColor->ToString(\"F\") = {0}", myColor.ToString( "F" ) );
}

/*
This example produces the following results:
Colors::Red = 0
Colors::Green = 1
Colors::Blue = 2
Colors::Yellow = 12

myColor = Colors::Yellow

myColor->ToString("g") = Yellow
myColor->ToString("G") = Yellow
myColor->ToString("x") = 0000000C
myColor->ToString("X") = 0000000C
myColor->ToString("d") = 12
myColor->ToString("D") = 12
myColor->ToString("f") = Yellow
myColor->ToString("F") = Yellow
*/

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information