Show Enum Description Instead of Name

Question

I had databinding set up like this:

ItemsSource=\"{Binding Source={my:Enumeration {x:Type credit:OccupationCategory}}         


        

Answer 1

This answer is an addition on H.B.'s answer I implemented for my own application:

Check if the Description attribute is added:

Description = (value.GetType().GetMember(value.ToString())[0].GetCustomAttributes(true).OfType<DescriptionAttribute>().Count() > 0 ? 
                                                value.GetType().GetMember(value.ToString())[0].GetCustomAttributes(true).OfType<DescriptionAttribute>().First().Description 
                                                : value)

And Set the following attribute to make sure the correct ID's are used: SelectedValuePath="Value"

Answer 2

If you keep this ItemsSource you will have to define a custom ItemTemplate as the DisplayMemberPath is just a path via which you will not be able to retrieve the description.

As for what the template should look like: You can bind a TextBlock to the enum value (the current DataContext) and pipe that through a ValueConverter using Binding.Converter. The code would just be some reflection to retrieve the Description (GetType, GetCustomAttributes etc.)

Alternatives are a custom method that return a usable collection right away (and is used in the ObjectDataProvider) or a custom markup extension which does the same thing.

---

Method example if we are talking about a ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute:

public static class EnumUtility
{
    // Might want to return a named type, this is a lazy example (which does work though)
    public static object[] GetValuesAndDescriptions(Type enumType)
    {
        var values = Enum.GetValues(enumType).Cast<object>();
        var valuesAndDescriptions = from value in values
                                    select new
                                        {
                                            Value = value,
                                            Description = value.GetType()
                                                .GetMember(value.ToString())[0]
                                                .GetCustomAttributes(true)
                                                .OfType<DescriptionAttribute>()
                                                .First()
                                                .Description
                                        };
        return valuesAndDescriptions.ToArray();
    }
}

<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="Data" MethodName="GetValuesAndDescriptions"
                    ObjectType="local:EnumUtility">
    <ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
        <x:TypeExtension TypeName="local:TestEnum" />
    </ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
</ObjectDataProvider>

<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource Data}}"
         DisplayMemberPath="Description"
         SelectedValuePath="Value"/>