How do I select a random value from an enumeration?

Question

Given an arbitrary enumeration in C#, how do I select a random value?

(I did not find this very basic question on SO. I'll post my answer in a minute as reference for anyone, but please feel free to post your own answer.)

Answer 1

Use Enum.GetValues to retrieve an array of all values. Then select a random array item.

static readonly Random _Random = new Random();

static T RandomEnumValue<T> ()
{
    return Enum
        .GetValues (typeof (T))
        .Cast<T> ()
        .OrderBy (x => _Random.Next())
        .FirstOrDefault ();
}

Test:

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    var value = RandomEnumValue<System.DayOfWeek> ();
    Console.WriteLine (value.ToString ());
}

->

Tuesday
Saturday
Wednesday
Monday
Friday
Saturday
Saturday
Saturday
Friday
Wednesday

Answer 2

Call Enum.GetValues; this returns an array that represents all possible values for your enum. Pick a random item from this array. Cast that item back to the original enum type.

Answer 3

Array values = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Bar));
Random random = new Random();
Bar randomBar = (Bar)values.GetValue(random.Next(values.Length));