How do I use unsafe values in an enum?

Question

I need to use this enum in my C# application, but it won't let me use these values. When I specify the type as uint I can use the -1 value, and when I specify int I can't use the last 2 values. Is there a way to use the unchecked keyword here to allow me to define all of these values? These values are coming from an external source, so I can't change them.

internal enum MyValues : int
{
    value1 = -1,
    value2 = 0,
    value3 = 0x80000000,
    value4 = 0xFFFFFFFF
}

Answer 1

Maybe try ulong enums instead of int?

Answer 2

If you want -1 to be a different value from 0xFFFFFFFF, you're going to need a datatype bigger than 32 bits. Try long.

Answer 3

It's typically not a good idea to use unsafe anywhere in a C# application. Since these values look to be constant, just create a static class to just hold the values. You'll have another file, but you will have your problem solved. And you can use whatever types you want:

public static class MyValues
{
    public const int value1 = -1;
    public const int value2= 0;
    public const int value3 = 0x80000000;
    public const int value4 = 0xFFFFFFFF;
}

Answer 4

One way to solve this is to use normal values for the enum (0, 1, 2, 3), and create a class or a pair of methods to convert the incoming values to the enum members and vice-versa.