Create Generic method constraining T to an Enum

I'm building a function to extend the Enum.Parse concept that

• Allows a default value to be parsed in case that an Enum value is not found

• Is case insensitive

So I wrote the following:

public static T GetEnumFromString(string value, T defaultValue) where T : Enum
{
    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) return defaultValue;
    foreach (T item in Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)))
    {
        if (item.ToString().ToLower().Equals(value.Trim().ToLower())) return item;
    }
    return defaultValue;
}

I am getting a Error Constraint cannot be special class System.Enum.

Fair enough, but is there a workaround to allow a Generic Enum, or am I going to have to mimic the Parse function and pass a type as an attribute, which forces the ugly boxing requirement to your code.
Edit 1

I have settled on (I've left the loop to maintain case insensitivity - I am using this when parsing XML)

public static class EnumUtils
{
    public static T ParseEnum(string value, T defaultValue) where T : struct, IConvertible
    {
        if (!typeof(T).IsEnum) throw new ArgumentException("T must be an enumerated type");
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) return defaultValue;

        foreach (T item in Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)))
        {
            if (item.ToString().ToLower().Equals(value.Trim().ToLower())) return item;
        }
        return defaultValue;
    }
}

Edit 2: (16th Feb 2015) Christopher Currens has posted a compiler enforced type-safe generic solution in MSIL or F# below, which is well worth a look, and an upvote. I will remove this edit if the solution bubbles further up the page.

Edit 3: (13th Apr 2021) As this has now been addressed, and supported, since C# 7.3, I have changed the accepted answer, though full perusal of the top answers is worth it for academic, and historical, interest :)

This feature is finally supported in C# 7.3!

The following snippet (from the dotnet samples) demonstrates how:

public static Dictionary EnumNamedValues() where T : System.Enum
{
    var result = new Dictionary();
    var values = Enum.GetValues(typeof(T));

    foreach (int item in values)
        result.Add(item, Enum.GetName(typeof(T), item));
    return result;
}

Be sure to set your language version in your C# project to version 7.3.

Original Answer below:

I'm late to the game, but I took it as a challenge to see how it could be done. It's not possible in C# (or VB.NET, but scroll down for F#), but is possible in MSIL. I wrote this little....thing

// license: http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
.assembly MyThing{}
.class public abstract sealed MyThing.Thing
       extends [mscorlib]System.Object
{
  .method public static !!T  GetEnumFromString(string strValue,
                                                                                          !!T defaultValue) cil managed
  {
    .maxstack  2
    .locals init ([0] !!T temp,
                  [1] !!T return_value,
                  [2] class [mscorlib]System.Collections.IEnumerator enumerator,
                  [3] class [mscorlib]System.IDisposable disposer)
    // if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(strValue)) return defaultValue;
    ldarg strValue
    call bool [mscorlib]System.String::IsNullOrEmpty(string)
    brfalse.s HASVALUE
    br RETURNDEF         // return default it empty
    
    // foreach (T item in Enum.GetValues(typeof(T)))
  HASVALUE:
    // Enum.GetValues.GetEnumerator()
    ldtoken !!T
    call class [mscorlib]System.Type [mscorlib]System.Type::GetTypeFromHandle(valuetype [mscorlib]System.RuntimeTypeHandle)
    call class [mscorlib]System.Array [mscorlib]System.Enum::GetValues(class [mscorlib]System.Type)
    callvirt instance class [mscorlib]System.Collections.IEnumerator [mscorlib]System.Array::GetEnumerator() 
    stloc enumerator
    .try
    {
      CONDITION:
        ldloc enumerator
        callvirt instance bool [mscorlib]System.Collections.IEnumerator::MoveNext()
        brfalse.s LEAVE
        
      STATEMENTS:
        // T item = (T)Enumerator.Current
        ldloc enumerator
        callvirt instance object [mscorlib]System.Collections.IEnumerator::get_Current()
        unbox.any !!T
        stloc temp
        ldloca.s temp
        constrained. !!T
        
        // if (item.ToString().ToLower().Equals(value.Trim().ToLower())) return item;
        callvirt instance string [mscorlib]System.Object::ToString()
        callvirt instance string [mscorlib]System.String::ToLower()
        ldarg strValue
        callvirt instance string [mscorlib]System.String::Trim()
        callvirt instance string [mscorlib]System.String::ToLower()
        callvirt instance bool [mscorlib]System.String::Equals(string)
        brfalse.s CONDITION
        ldloc temp
        stloc return_value
        leave.s RETURNVAL
        
      LEAVE:
        leave.s RETURNDEF
    }
    finally
    {
        // ArrayList's Enumerator may or may not inherit from IDisposable
        ldloc enumerator
        isinst [mscorlib]System.IDisposable
        stloc.s disposer
        ldloc.s disposer
        ldnull
        ceq
        brtrue.s LEAVEFINALLY
        ldloc.s disposer
        callvirt instance void [mscorlib]System.IDisposable::Dispose()
      LEAVEFINALLY:
        endfinally
    }
  
  RETURNDEF:
    ldarg defaultValue
    stloc return_value
  
  RETURNVAL:
    ldloc return_value
    ret
  }
}

Which generates a function that would look like this, if it were valid C#:

T GetEnumFromString(string valueString, T defaultValue) where T : Enum

Then with the following C# code:

using MyThing;
// stuff...
private enum MyEnum { Yes, No, Okay }
static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Thing.GetEnumFromString("No", MyEnum.Yes); // returns MyEnum.No
    Thing.GetEnumFromString("Invalid", MyEnum.Okay);  // returns MyEnum.Okay
    Thing.GetEnumFromString("AnotherInvalid", 0); // compiler error, not an Enum
}

Unfortunately, this means having this part of your code written in MSIL instead of C#, with the only added benefit being that you're able to constrain this method by System.Enum. It's also kind of a bummer, because it gets compiled into a separate assembly. However, it doesn't mean you have to deploy it that way.

By removing the line .assembly MyThing{} and invoking ilasm as follows:

ilasm.exe /DLL /OUTPUT=MyThing.netmodule

you get a netmodule instead of an assembly.

Unfortunately, VS2010 (and earlier, obviously) does not support adding netmodule references, which means you'd have to leave it in 2 separate assemblies when you're debugging. The only way you can add them as part of your assembly would be to run csc.exe yourself using the /addmodule:{files} command line argument. It wouldn't be too painful in an MSBuild script. Of course, if you're brave or stupid, you can run csc yourself manuall

Stack Overflow Q#79126, score: 965