[Get Enum values] Get all possible values of Enum type. Answers question "How do I get all possible values of variable of Enum type when the type is not known?" #powershell

Get-EnumValues.ps1

# Get all possible values of variable of dynamic Enum type

function Get-EnumInformation( [Object] $thing ) {
  if( $thing -is [Enum] ) {
    $type = $thing.getType()
  } elseif( ($thing -as [Type]).baseType.fullName -eq 'System.Enum' ) {
    $type = $thing -as [Type]
  } else {
    return $null
  }
  
  [PSCustomObject] @{
    Type =                    $type.fullName
    UnderlyingType =          [Enum]::getUnderlyingType($type).fullName  # or $type.getUnderlyingType().fullName
    EnumElementNames =        [Enum]::getNames($type)                    # or $type.getEnumNames()
    EnumElementValues =       [Enum]::getValues($type)                   # or $type.getEnumValues()
    EnumElementNamesString =  [Enum]::getNames($type) -join ', '
  }
}


or

$VerbosePreference.GetType().GetEnumValues()

# or if you start with name of type in string and you need to cast to that type explicitly:
$String = 'System.Management.Automation.ActionPreference'
$Value = 'SilentlyContinue'

# ...

$Value -As ($String -As [Type])

# or at least in Powershell 5 even simpler:

$Value -As $String
$Value -As 'System.Management.Automation.ActionPreference'
'SilentlyContinue' -As 'System.Management.Automation.ActionPreference'