Checking Flags in C# Enums

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March 05, 2008 c-sharp code

Update 2021/09/22: The Enum class has a built-in HasFlag() method now.

I like C# enums and I also like using them as bitfields, even though apparently not everyone does. I realize they aren’t perfectly typesafe, but then I don’t think that’s the problem Abrams and company were trying to solve anyway.

Here’s an example one:

[Flags]
public enum Fruits
{
    Apple       = 1,
    Banana      = 2,
    Cherry      = 4,
    Date        = 8,
    Eggplant    = 16
}

Nice, clean syntax. The way they solved C++’s name collision issues with enum values is genius: Fruits.Apple. Clearly these guys are using the old noggin.

The annoying bit (argh, a pun)

The one thing that does annoy me about flag enums is the syntax to see if a given flag (or set of flags) is set:

if ((myFruit & Fruits.Date) == Fruits.Date)

I’m not afraid of bitwise operators, but there’s some serious lameness in here. Needing to specify the explicit == for type safety and having to use the parenthesis because the operator precedence puts == before & first? Gross.

For every nail there is a hammer

Behold the solution:

public static class FruitsExtensions
{
    public static bool IsSet(this Fruits fruits, Fruits flags)
    {
        return (fruits & flags) == flags;
    }
}

With that, you can just do:

if (myFruit.IsSet(Fruits.Date))

Much nicer. For kicks, here’s some other useful methods:

public static class FruitsExtensions
{
    public static bool IsSet(this Fruits fruits, Fruits flags)
    {
        return (fruits & flags) == flags;
    }

    public static bool IsNotSet(this Fruits fruits, Fruits flags)
    {
        return (fruits & (~flags)) == 0;
    }

    public static Fruits Set(this Fruits fruits, Fruits flags)
    {
        return fruits | flags;
    }

    public static Fruits Clear(this Fruits fruits, Fruits flags)
    {
        return fruits & (~flags);
    }
}

Useful, no?

Why solve one when you can solve n?

So, if you’re like me and this guy, right now you’re thinking, “This just fixes one enum. Can I solve it for all enums?” Ideally, you’d do something like:

public static class EnumExtensions
{
    public static bool IsSet<T>(this T value, T flags) where T : Enum
    {
        return (value & flags) == flags;
    }
}

Unfortunately, that doesn’t fly. You can’t use Enum as a constraint. Likewise, there’s no way to require a typeparam to implement an operator (like & above). You can implement a generic solution for this:

public static class EnumExtensions
{
    public static bool IsSet<T>(this T value, T flags)
        where T : struct
    {
        Type type = typeof(T);

        // only works with enums
        if (!type.IsEnum) throw new ArgumentException(
            "The type parameter T must be an enum type.");

        // handle each underlying type
        Type numberType = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(type);

        if (numberType.Equals(typeof(int)))
        {
            return Box<int>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(sbyte)))
        {
            return Box<sbyte>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(byte)))
        {
            return Box<byte>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(short)))
        {
            return Box<short>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(ushort)))
        {
            return Box<ushort>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(uint)))
        {
            return Box<uint>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(long)))
        {
            return Box<long>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(ulong)))
        {
            return Box<ulong>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else if (numberType.Equals(typeof(char)))
        {
            return Box<char>(value, flags, (a, b) => (a & b) == b);
        }
        else
        {
            throw new ArgumentException(
                "Unknown enum underlying type " +
                numberType.Name + ".");
        }
    }

    /// Helper function for handling the value types. Boxes the
    /// params to object so that the cast can be called on them.
    private static bool Box<T>(object value, object flags,
        Func<T, T, bool> op)
    {
        return op((T)value, (T)flags);
    }
}

…but, yeah, it’s not exactly fun using reflection for this.