How to get next (or previous) enum value in C#

Question

I have an enum which is defined like this:

public enum eRat { A = 0, B=3, C=5, D=8 };

So given value eRat.B, I want to get the

Answer 1

Hope this part of my code helps you:

public enum EGroupedBy
{
    Type,
    InterfaceAndType,
    Alpha,
    _max
}

private void _btnViewUnit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    int i = (int)GroupedBy;

    i = (i + 1) % (int)EGroupedBy._max;

    GroupedBy = (EGroupedBy) i;

    RefreshUnit();
}

Answer 2

I tried the first solution but it did not work for me. Below is my solution:

    public  object NextEnumItem(object currentEnumItem) 
    {
        if (!currentEnumItem.GetType().IsEnum) throw new 
                ArgumentException(String.Format("Argument is not an Enum"));
        Array Arr = Enum.GetValues(currentEnumItem.GetType());
        int j = Array.IndexOf(Arr,currentEnumItem) + 1;
        return (Arr.Length == j) ? currentEnumItem : Arr.GetValue(j);
    }

    public object PreviousEnumItem(object currentEnumItem)
    {
        if (!currentEnumItem.GetType().IsEnum)
            throw new ArgumentException(String.Format("Argument is not an Enum"));
        Array Arr = Enum.GetValues(currentEnumItem.GetType());
        int j = Array.IndexOf(Arr, currentEnumItem) - 1;
        return (j==-1) ? currentEnumItem : Arr.GetValue(j);
    }

Answer 3

From comments I had many question like: "Why would you ever want to use enum in this way." Since so many of you asked, let me give you my use case and see if you agree then:

I have a fixed array of items int[n]. Depending on the situation I want to enumerate through this array differently. So i defined:

int[] Arr= {1,2,34,5,6,78,9,90,30};
enum eRat1 { A = 0, B=3, C=5, D=8 }; 
enum eRat2 { A, AA,AAA,B,BB,C,C,CC,D }; 

void walk(Type enumType) 
{ 
   foreach (Type t in Enum.GetValues(enumType)) 
   { 
      write(t.ToString() + " = " + Arr[(int)t)]; 
   }
} 

and call walk(typeof(eRAt1)) or walk(typeof(eRAt2))

then i get required output

1) walk(typeof(eRAt1))

A = 1
B = 5
C = 78
D = 30

2) walk(typeof(eRAt2))

A = 1
AA = 2
AAA = 34
B = 5
BB = 6
C = 78
CC = 90
D = 30

This is very simplified. But i hope, this explains. There are some other advantages to this, as having enum.toString(). So basically i use enums as indexers.

So using the solution I can do something like this now.

In sequence eRat1 next value to B is C, but in eRat2 it is BB. So depending on which sequence I am interested in, I can do e.next and depending on enumType I will either get C or BB. How would one achieve that with dictionaries?

I think this a rather elegant use of enums.

Answer 4

I'm using this here:

public MyEnum getNext() {
    return this.ordinal() < MyEnum.values().length - 1 ? 
                            MyEnum.values()[this.ordinal() + 1] : 
                            MyEnum.values()[0];
}

Answer 5

LINQ solution that does not break on last element but continues at the default again:

var nextValue = Enum.GetValues(typeof(EnumT)).Cast<EnumT>().Concat(new[]{default(EnumT)}).SkipWhile(_ => _ != value).Skip(1).First();

Answer 6

Works up to "C" since there is no answer on what to return after "D".

[update1]: Updated according to Marc Gravell's suggestion.

[update2]: Updated according to how husayt's wanted - return "A" for the next value of "D".

public class Program
{
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Next enum of A = {0}", eRatEnumHelper.GetNextEnumValueOf(eRat.A));
        Console.WriteLine("Next enum of B = {0}", eRatEnumHelper.GetNextEnumValueOf(eRat.B));
        Console.WriteLine("Next enum of C = {0}", eRatEnumHelper.GetNextEnumValueOf(eRat.C));
    }
}

public enum eRat { A = 0, B = 3, C = 5, D = 8 };

public class eRatEnumHelper
{
    public static eRat GetNextEnumValueOf(eRat value)
    {
        return (from eRat val in Enum.GetValues(typeof (eRat)) 
                where val > value 
                orderby val 
                select val).DefaultIfEmpty().First();
    }
}

Result

Next enum of A = B
Next enum of B = C
Next enum of C = D
Next enum of D = A