Linking enum value with localized string resource

Question

Related: Get enum from enum attribute

I want the most maintainable way of binding an enumeration and it\'s associated localized string values to something.

Answer 1

I've to use it in WPF here is how I achieve it

First of all you need to define an attribute

public class LocalizedDescriptionAttribute : DescriptionAttribute
{
    private readonly string _resourceKey;
    private readonly ResourceManager _resource;
    public LocalizedDescriptionAttribute(string resourceKey, Type resourceType)
    {
        _resource = new ResourceManager(resourceType);
        _resourceKey = resourceKey;
    }

    public override string Description
    {
        get
        {
            string displayName = _resource.GetString(_resourceKey);

            return string.IsNullOrEmpty(displayName)
                ? string.Format("[[{0}]]", _resourceKey)
                : displayName;
        }
    }
}

You can use that attribute like this

public enum OrderType
{
    [LocalizedDescription("DineIn", typeof(Properties.Resources))]
    DineIn = 1,
    [LocalizedDescription("Takeaway", typeof(Properties.Resources))]
    Takeaway = 2
}

Then Define a converter like

public class EnumToDescriptionConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo language)
    {
        var enumValue = value as Enum;

        return enumValue == null ? DependencyProperty.UnsetValue : enumValue.GetDescriptionFromEnumValue();
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo language)
    {
        return value;
    }
}

Then in your XAML