Get Enum Description

   
 
//http://facebooktoolkit.codeplex.com/
//http://facebooktoolkit.codeplex.com/license
using System;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Text;

namespace Facebook.Utility
{
  ///<summary>
    /// Contains helper functions used to help when using enums inside of collections and serialization
  ///</summary>
  public class EnumHelper
  {
    private EnumHelper()
    {
    }

    ///<summary>
    ///</summary>
    ///<param name="enumeratedType"></param>
    ///<typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    ///<returns></returns>
    ///<exception cref="ArgumentException"></exception>
    public static string GetEnumDescription<T>(T enumeratedType)
    {
      var description = enumeratedType.ToString();

      var enumType = typeof (T);
      // Can&#039;t use type constraints on value types, so have to do check like this
      if (enumType.BaseType != typeof (Enum))
        throw new ArgumentException("T must be of type System.Enum");

      var fieldInfo = enumeratedType.GetType().GetField(enumeratedType.ToString());

      if (fieldInfo != null)
      {
        var attributes = fieldInfo.GetCustomAttributes(typeof (DescriptionAttribute), false);

        if (attributes != null &amp;&amp; attributes.Length > 0)
        {
          description = ((DescriptionAttribute) attributes[0]).Description;
        }
      }

      return description;
    }

    ///<summary>
    ///</summary>
    ///<param name="enums"></param>
    ///<typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    ///<returns></returns>
    ///<exception cref="ArgumentException"></exception>
    public static string GetEnumCollectionDescription<T>(Collection<T> enums)
    {
      var sb = new StringBuilder();

      var enumType = typeof (T);

      // Can&#039;t use type constraints on value types, so have to do check like this
      if (enumType.BaseType != typeof (Enum))
        throw new ArgumentException("T must be of type System.Enum");

      foreach (var enumeratedType in enums)
      {
        sb.AppendLine(GetEnumDescription(enumeratedType));
      }

      return sb.ToString();
    }
  }
}