Enum Flags conversions for Decimal values/names

Question

I have few enum flags that represent a version of an external system. I want to ensure, that every time the external system upgrades its version, my functionality should be able to support it (I will know in advance that version will be upgraded, so its a proactive action). Also my communication has to be in both directions with this system, which means internal and external communication can have different version sets.

I have created an enum flag, to represent these versions.

[Flags]
public enum ExternalSystemVersionEnum
{
    System1 = 1,
    System2 = 2,
    System3 = 4,
    All = 7
}

This works okay for a formal major upgrades. Sadly I can't name those as System1.0 or so on. Also, as its decimals, I can't use generic enum parser.

(T) Enum.Parse(typeof (T), Convert.ToString(enumValue));

Of course I can still achieve the above by using switch/if statements instead, but I really want to avoid any hard coding at all (even Resources/Contants if I can), as one version of external system may get completely discarded, and I don't want to be bothered about having to chase down all strings.

Also I need Flags or equivalent functionality, as I may still receive communication that has no System version Identification, which by default goes to applicable to all versions. Another communication may just apply to some select versions, eg. only for 2.0 onward etc.

Please note, I can easily achieve this by using Switch/If, but I don't wish to have any hard coding, unless there's no other (simple) way. My main concern here is having a functionality that acts like flags, yet can easily identifies values with decimal places, say 1.0 or 1.2 or 1.3.1 for that matter (though in history they've never had double decimal points), and provides compile time failures. I am open to suggestions of other mechanisms, but I would really prefer it to be a simple logic, as its a very trivial part of the entire process.

What about static class? `public static class ExternalSystemVersionEnum { public static double System1 = 1.0; public static double System2 = 2.0; public static double System3 = 4.0; public static double All = 7; }` — Maciej Los, Jun 14 '16 at 05:37
I am not sure if it will have the functionality equivalent of HasFlag check. Not that its very complex to build but avoids unnecessary code and reduces maintenance. Yet could you please explain a bit further, as I may not have understood it correctly? — touchofevil, Jun 14 '16 at 05:42

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 14 '16 at 05:51

2

What about

[Flags]
public enum ExternalSystemVersionEnum
{
    System1_1 = 1,
    System2_1 = 2,
    System3_2 = 4,
    All = 7
}

var enumString = decimalValue.ToString("0.0", 
    CultureInfo.InvarantCulture).Replace('.', "_");

var enumValue = (ExternalSystemVersionEnum)Enum.Parse(
    typeof(ExternalSystemVersionEnum), enumString);

answered Jun 14 '16 at 05:51

Jürgen Steinblock

30,746
24
119
189

Makes a lot of sense. It is a generic logic that incorporates the requirements perfectly. :) – touchofevil Jun 14 '16 at 06:50

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 14 '16 at 05:50

It sounds like these values could be changing depending on what systems are connected and if the connected systems will be upgraded. In order to remove the hardcoding and to make it more flexible I would suggest adding your data as a custom section in an app.config file. In that way you can easily modify/add/remove the values without the need to recompile every time something changes.

<configSections>
    <section name="SystemVersions" type="YourAppName.SystemVersionSection, YourAppName" />
</configSections>

<SystemVersions>
    <system version="1.0" />
    <system version="2.0" />
    <system version="1.3.1" />
    <system version="All" />
</SystemVersions>

This CodeProject page Custom Configuration Sections for Lazy Coders may help you.

I understand that this doesn't quite fit your requirements of using an Enum, however sometimes an alternative design will be a better fit overall.

Thank you for the response. But am afraid, for this particular scenario I can't use the suggestion. Up vote for that link though as it was informative. — touchofevil, Jun 14 '16 at 06:47

Enum Flags conversions for Decimal values/names

2 Answers2