Populate ASP Dropdown list with enum Description and Values

[JasonEnsor]

Hi Guys,

I am trying to create a dropdown list in asp.net using an enum as the data for the list. what I am wanting is to have the description set as the dropdownlist text and the value of the enum set as the value for the dropdown list.

So far I have found two snippets of code the first gets the enum names and values

Array itemValues = System.Enum.GetValues(typeof(CountryList));
Array itemNames = System.Enum.GetNames(typeof(CountryList));

for (int i = 0; i <= itemNames.Length - 1; i++)
{

    var value = (int)(CountryList)Enum.Parse(typeof(CountryList), itemValues.GetValue(i).ToString(), true);

    ListItem item = new ListItem(itemNames.GetValue(i).ToString(), value.ToString());

    ddlCultureList.Items.Add(item);

}

and I can get the Enum description using the following

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //Get attributes from the enum
            var items =
               typeof(CountryList).GetEnumNames()
                .Select(x => typeof(CountryList).GetMember(x)[0].GetCustomAttributes(
                   typeof(System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute), false))
                .SelectMany(x =>
                   x.Select(y => new ListItem(((System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute)y).Description)));

            //Add items to ddl
            foreach (var item in items)
                ddlCultureList.Items.Add(item);
        }

I just can't figure out how to get both together so the enum description (United Kingdom) populates in the drop down list text and GB is set as the value as I want to use the value for another part of my application.

An example of the Enum I am using is

public enum CountryList
    {
        [System.ComponentModel.Description("United States")]
        US,
        [System.ComponentModel.Description("United Kingdom")]
        GB
    }

any help and tips would be appreciated. I was originally going to use CultureInfo and RegionInfo to get the list of Countries, however it brings back a load of countries that my company does not do business with so the enum was a better option. Plus I feel I could use this for future projects.

Many Thanks

J.

Regards

J.

 

[jbenson001]

Maybe this will help you?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/424366/c-sharp-string-enums