Convert String to Enum and Enum to string using Generic

Too long since I did a C# post! Recently I was faced with a requirement to use an enum in code but save it as a string in the database. Rather than do implicit conversions every time this change was required, I use generics instead. See below:

private static T ToEnum<T>(string value)
{
    return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value, true);
}

private static string EnumToString<T>(T enumValue)
{
    Type typeParameterType = typeof(T);
    return Enum.GetName(typeParameterType, enumValue);
}

Pretty straightforward: I create two static generic methods taking type of T. In ToEnum I use the Enum.Parse method to parse the string to Type T of Enum. In EnumToString I get the type of T and use that to getName. These methods are basic and could be improved with proper checks.

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Posted in: .Net, C#

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Note: This post was salvaged from my old blog at netawakening.azurewebsites.net via the Wayback Machine.