Enum.ToString Method
[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]
Converts the value of this instance to its equivalent string representation.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
The return value is formatted with the general format specifier ("G"). That is, if the FlagsAttribute is not applied to this enumerated type and there is a named constant equal to the value of this instance, then the return value is a string containing the name of the constant. If the FlagsAttribute is applied and there is a combination of one or more named constants equal to the value of this instance, then the return value is a string containing a delimiter-separated list of the names of the constants. Otherwise, the return value is the string representation of the numeric value of this instance. For more information about formatting enumeration values, see Enumeration Format Strings. For more information about formatting in general, see Formatting Types.
Notes to CallersIf 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.
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.
The following example demonstrates converting an enumerated value to a string.
Public Class Example Enum Colors Red = 1 Blue = 2 End Enum Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock) Dim myColors As Colors = Colors.Red outputBlock.Text += String.Format("The value of this instance is '{0}'", _ myColors.ToString()) + vbCrLf End Sub End Class 'Output. 'The value of this instance is 'Red'.