Alternative to "char" enum

Question

I have a database which needs a status column updating to a single char status code ('E' or 'U').

I'd like to use an enum for updating this field through my API to ensure the possible values are restricted correctly. Obviously enums can't be of char type. What might be be a good alternative method?

And no, I can't change the database schema :)

Answer 1

You can assign chars to enum members.

Does this help:

enum Status
{
 Empty = 'E',
 Updated = 'U'
}
void Main()
{
 Status status = Status.Empty;
 Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", status, (char)status);
}

Answer 2

byte - if you have char

ushort - if you have nchar

Both can be cast to the underlying integer, and then cast to char (C#).