Updated: May 2009
Converts the string representation of the name or numeric value of one or more enumerated constants to an equivalent enumerated object. A parameter specifies whether the operation is case-sensitive.
Namespace:
System
Assembly:
mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Shared Function Parse ( _
enumType As Type, _
value As String, _
ignoreCase As Boolean _
) As Object
Dim enumType As Type
Dim value As String
Dim ignoreCase As Boolean
Dim returnValue As Object
returnValue = Enum.Parse(enumType, _
value, ignoreCase)
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public static Object Parse(
Type enumType,
string value,
bool ignoreCase
)
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public:
static Object^ Parse(
Type^ enumType,
String^ value,
bool ignoreCase
)
public static function Parse(
enumType : Type,
value : String,
ignoreCase : boolean
) : Object
Return Value
Type:
System..::.ObjectAn object of type enumType whose value is represented by value.
| Exception | Condition |
|---|
| ArgumentNullException |
enumType or value is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic). |
| ArgumentException |
enumType is not an Enum. -or-
value is either an empty string ("") or only contains white space. -or-
value is a name, but not one of the named constants defined for the enumeration. |
| OverflowException |
value is outside the range of the underlying type of enumType. |
The value parameter contains the string representation of an enumeration member's underlying value or named constant, or a list of named constants delimited by commas (,). One or more blank spaces can precede or follow each value, name, or comma in value. If value is a list, the return value is the value of the specified names combined with a bitwise OR operation.
If value is a name that does not correspond to a named constant of enumType, the method throws an ArgumentException. If value is the string representation of an integer that does not represent an underlying value of the enumType enumeration, the method returns an enumeration member whose underlying value is value converted to an integral type. If this behavior is undesirable, call the IsDefined method to ensure that a particular string representation of an integer is actually a member of enumType. The following example defines a Colors enumeration, calls the Parse(Type, String, Boolean) method to convert strings to their corresponding enumeration values, and calls the IsDefined method to ensure that particular integral values are underlying values in the Colors enumeration.
<Flags> Enum Colors As Integer
None = 0
Red = 1
Green = 2
Blue = 4
End Enum
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim colorStrings() As String = {"0", "2", "8", "blue", "Blue", "Yellow", "Red, Green"}
For Each colorString As String In colorStrings
Try
Dim colorValue As Colors = CType([Enum].Parse(GetType(Colors), colorString, True), Colors)
If [Enum].IsDefined(GetType(Colors), colorValue) Or colorValue.ToString().Contains(",") Then
Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1}.", colorString, colorValue.ToString())
Else
Console.WriteLine("{0} is not an underlying value of the Colors enumeration.", colorString)
End If
Catch e As ArgumentException
Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a member of the Colors enumeration.", colorString)
End Try
Next
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
' Converted '0' to None.
' Converted '2' to Green.
' 8 is not an underlying value of the Colors enumeration.
' Converted 'blue' to Blue.
' Converted 'Blue' to Blue.
' Yellow is not a member of the Colors enumeration.
' Converted 'Red, Green' to Red, Green.
using System;
[Flags] enum Colors { None=0, Red = 1, Green = 2, Blue = 4 };
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
string[] colorStrings = { "0", "2", "8", "blue", "Blue", "Yellow", "Red, Green" };
foreach (string colorString in colorStrings)
{
try {
Colors colorValue = (Colors) Enum.Parse(typeof(Colors), colorString, true);
if (Enum.IsDefined(typeof(Colors), colorValue) | colorValue.ToString().Contains(","))
Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1}.", colorString, colorValue.ToString());
else
Console.WriteLine("{0} is not an underlying value of the Colors enumeration.", colorString);
}
catch (ArgumentException) {
Console.WriteLine("{0} is not a member of the Colors enumeration.", colorString);
}
}
}
}
// The example displays the following output:
// Converted '0' to None.
// Converted '2' to Green.
// 8 is not an underlying value of the Colors enumeration.
// Converted 'blue' to Blue.
// Converted 'Blue' to Blue.
// Yellow is not a member of the Colors enumeration.
// Converted 'Red, Green' to Red, Green.
The ignoreCase parameter specifies whether this operation is case-sensitive.
The following example uses the Parse(Type, String, Boolean) method to parse an array of strings created by calling the GetNames method. It also uses the Parse method to parse an enumeration value that consists of a bit field.
Imports System
Public Class ParseTest
<FlagsAttribute()> _
Enum Colors
Red = 1
Green = 2
Blue = 4
Yellow = 8
End Enum
Public Shared Sub Main()
Console.WriteLine("The entries of the Colors enumeration are:")
Dim colorName As String
For Each colorName In [Enum].GetNames(GetType(Colors))
Console.WriteLine("{0}={1}", colorName, Convert.ToInt32([Enum].Parse(GetType(Colors), colorName)))
Next colorName
Console.WriteLine()
Dim myOrange As Colors = CType([Enum].Parse(GetType(Colors), "Red, Yellow"), Colors)
Console.WriteLine("The myOrange value {1} has the combined entries of {0}", myOrange, Convert.ToInt64(myOrange))
End Sub
End Class
'This code example produces the following results:
'
'The entries of the Colors Enum are:
'Red=1
'Green=2
'Blue=4
'Yellow=8
'
'The myOrange value 9 has the combined entries of Red, Yellow
'
using System;
public class ParseTest
{
[FlagsAttribute]
enum Colors { Red = 1, Green = 2, Blue = 4, Yellow = 8 };
public static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine("The entries of the Colors enumeration are:");
foreach (string colorName in Enum.GetNames(typeof(Colors)))
{
Console.WriteLine("{0}={1}", colorName,
Convert.ToInt32(Enum.Parse(typeof(Colors), colorName)));
}
Console.WriteLine();
Colors myOrange = (Colors)Enum.Parse(typeof(Colors), "Red, Yellow");
Console.WriteLine("The myOrange value {1} has the combined entries of {0}",
myOrange, Convert.ToInt64(myOrange));
}
}
/*
This code example produces the following results:
The entries of the Colors Enum are:
Red=1
Green=2
Blue=4
Yellow=8
The myOrange value 9 has the combined entries of Red, Yellow
*/
using namespace System;
[FlagsAttribute]
enum class Colors
{
Red = 1,
Green = 2,
Blue = 4,
Yellow = 8
};
int main()
{
Console::WriteLine( "The entries of the Colors enumeration are:" );
Array^ a = Enum::GetNames( Colors::typeid );
Int32 i = 0;
while ( i < a->Length )
{
Object^ o = a->GetValue( i );
Console::WriteLine( o->ToString() );
i++;
}
Console::WriteLine();
Object^ myOrange = Enum::Parse( Colors::typeid, "Red, Yellow" );
Console::WriteLine( "The myOrange value has the combined entries of {0}", myOrange );
}
/*
This code example produces the following results:
The entries of the Colors Enum are:
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
The myOrange value has the combined entries of Red, Yellow
*/
import System;
public class ParseTest {
FlagsAttribute
enum Colors { Red = 1, Green = 2, Blue = 4, Yellow = 8 };
public static function Main() {
Console.WriteLine("The entries of the Colors enumeration are:");
for(var i : int in Enum.GetNames(Colors))
Console.WriteLine(Enum.GetNames(Colors).GetValue(i));
Console.WriteLine();
var myOrange : Colors = Colors(Enum.Parse(Colors, "Red, Yellow"));
Console.WriteLine("The myOrange value has the combined entries of {0}", myOrange);
}
}
ParseTest.Main();
/*
This code example produces the following results:
The entries of the Colors Enum are:
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
The myOrange value has the combined entries of Red, Yellow
*/
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.
.NET Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
.NET Compact Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 2.0
XNA Framework
Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
Reference
Date | History | Reason |
|---|
May 2009
| Added OverflowException to the list of exceptions. |
Content bug fix.
|
December 2008
| Expanded the Remarks section and added an example. |
Customer feedback.
|