WPF : Can I bind an enum to a combo-box ?

Question

Hello, I'm attempting to have a combo-box display a pre-defined set of values - in this case an enum. For example :

public enum Protocol
{
    UDP = 0,
    TCP,
    RS232
}

However I seem to fail at getting it done. Is this possible at all? I've attempted to use databinding however Blend only found all classes from the namespace, not the enum (which is not an object obviously)

Answer 1

Bind names below to your ComboBox:

var names = Enum.GetNames( typeof(Protocol) );

Answer 2

Don't know about WPF but in webforms (since I use MVP) I bind a List> to the ddl. To get the list here is some code

var pairs = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>();

            pairs.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Please Select", String.Empty));

            for (int i = 0; i < typeof(DepartmentEnum).GetFields().Length - 1; i++)
            {
                DepartmentEnum de = EnumExtensions.NumberToEnum<DepartmentEnum>(i);
                pairs.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>(de.ToDescription(), de.ToString()));
            }

            MyView.Departments = pairs;

It uses extension methods on the enum:

 public static class EnumExtensions
    {
        public static string ToDescription(this Enum en) 
        {
            Type type = en.GetType();

            MemberInfo[] memInfo = type.GetMember(en.ToString());

            if (memInfo != null && memInfo.Length > 0)
            {
                object[] attrs = memInfo[0].GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute),false);

                if (attrs != null && attrs.Length > 0)

                    return ((DescriptionAttribute)attrs[0]).Description;
            }

            return en.ToString();
        }

        public static TEnum NumberToEnum<TEnum>(int number )
        {
            return (TEnum)Enum.ToObject(typeof(TEnum), number);
        }
    }