Enum Extensions

gistfile1.txt

 public static class EnumExtensions
    {
        public static string ToDescription(this Enum enumValue)
        {
            if (enumValue == null)
                return null;

            var memInfo = enumValue.GetType().GetMember(enumValue.ToString());
            var description = (DescriptionAttribute)memInfo[0].GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false).FirstOrDefault();

            return (description == null)
                ? enumValue.ToString()
                : description.Description;
        }

        public static T ToEnum<T>(this string value)
        {
            return (T)ToEnum(value, typeof(T));
        }

        public static T? ToNullableEnum<T>(this string value) where T : struct
        {
            return value?.ToEnum<T>();
        }

        public static object ToEnum(this string value, Type type)
        {
            var result = Enum.GetValues(type)
               .Cast<Enum>()
               .First(v => string.Equals(value, v.ToDescription()));
            if (result == null)
                throw new ArgumentException("Could not convert " + value + " to an enum", "value");
            return result;
        }
    }