How to check if any flags of a flag combination are set?

Question

Let\'s say I have this enum:

[Flags]
enum Letters
{
     A = 1,
     B = 2,
     C = 4,
     AB = A | B,
     All = A | B | C,
}

To check i

Answer 1

You could just check if the value is not zero.

if ((Int32)(letter & Letters.AB) != 0) { }

But I would consider it a better solution to introduce a new enumeration value with value zero and compare agains this enumeration value (if possible because you must be able to modify the enumeration).

[Flags]
enum Letters
{
    None = 0,
    A    = 1,
    B    = 2,
    C    = 4,
    AB   =  A | B,
    All  = AB | C
}

if (letter != Letters.None) { }

UPDATE

Missread the question - fixed the first suggestion and just ignore the second suggestion.

Answer 2

There are two aproaches that I can see that would work for checking for any bit being set.

Aproach A

if (letter != 0)
{
}

This works as long as you don't mind checking for all bits, including non-defined ones too!

Aproach B

if ((letter & Letters.All) != 0)
{
}

This only checks the defined bits, as long as Letters.All represents all of the possible bits.

For specific bits (one or more set), use Aproach B replacing Letters.All with the bits that you want to check for (see below).

if ((letter & Letters.AB) != 0)
{
}

Answer 3

If you want to know if letter has any of the letters in AB you must use the AND & operator. Something like:

if ((letter & Letters.AB) != 0)
{
    // Some flag (A,B or both) is enabled
}
else
{
    // None of them are enabled
}

Answer 4

Would this work for you?

if ((letter & (Letters.A | Letters.B)) != 0)

Regards,

Sebastiaan