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I am trying to find a simple example where the enums are shown as is. All examples I have seen tries to add nice looking display strings but I don't want that complexity.
Basically I have a class that holds all the properties that I bind, by first setting the DataContext to this class, and then specifying the binding like this in the xaml file:
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=EffectStyle}"/>
But this doesn't show the enum values in the ComboBox as items.
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You can do it from code by placing the following code in Window Loaded event handler, for example:
yourComboBox.ItemsSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(EffectStyle)).Cast<EffectStyle>();
If you need to bind it in XAML you need to use ObjectDataProvider to create object available as binding source:
<Window x:Class="YourNamespace.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:System="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
xmlns:StyleAlias="clr-namespace:Motion.VideoEffects">
<Window.Resources>
<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="dataFromEnum" MethodName="GetValues"
ObjectType="{x:Type System:Enum}">
<ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
<x:Type TypeName="StyleAlias:EffectStyle"/>
</ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
</ObjectDataProvider>
</Window.Resources>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource dataFromEnum}}"
SelectedItem="{Binding Path=CurrentEffectStyle}" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Draw attention on the next code:
xmlns:System="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
xmlns:StyleAlias="clr-namespace:Motion.VideoEffects"
Guide how to map namespace and assembly you can read on MSDN.
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I like for all objects that I'm binding to be defined in my ViewModel, so I try to avoid using <ObjectDataProvider> in the xaml when possible.
My solution uses no data defined in the View and no code-behind. Only a DataBinding, a reusable ValueConverter, a method to get a collection of descriptions for any Enum type, and a single property in the ViewModel to bind to.
When I want to bind an Enum to a ComboBox the text I want to display never matches the values of the Enum, so I use the [Description()] attribute (from System.ComponentModel) to give it the text that I actually want to see in the ComboBox. If I had an enum of days of the week, it would look something like this:
public enum DayOfWeek
// add an optional blank value for default/no selection
[Description("")]
NOT_SET = 0,
[Description("Sunday")]
SUNDAY,
[Description("Monday")]
MONDAY,
First I created helper class with a couple methods to deal with enums. One method gets a description for a specific value, the other method gets all values and their descriptions for a type.
public static class EnumHelper
public static string Description(this Enum value)
var attributes = value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString()).GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
if (attributes.Any())
return (attributes.First() as DescriptionAttribute).Description;
// If no description is found, the least we can do is replace underscores with spaces
// You can add your own custom default formatting logic here
TextInfo ti = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.TextInfo;
return ti.ToTitleCase(ti.ToLower(value.ToString().Replace("_", " ")));
public static IEnumerable<ValueDescription> GetAllValuesAndDescriptions(Type t)
if (!t.IsEnum)
throw new ArgumentException($"{nameof(t)} must be an enum type");
return Enum.GetValues(t).Cast<Enum>().Select((e) => new ValueDescription() { Value = e, Description = e.Description() }).ToList();
Next, we create a ValueConverter. Inheriting from MarkupExtension makes it easier to use in XAML so we don't have to declare it as a resource.
[ValueConversion(typeof(Enum), typeof(IEnumerable<ValueDescription>))]
public class EnumToCollectionConverter : MarkupExtension, IValueConverter
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
return EnumHelper.GetAllValuesAndDescriptions(value.GetType());
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
return null;
public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
return this;
My ViewModel only needs 1 property that my View can bind to for both the SelectedValue and ItemsSource of the combobox:
private DayOfWeek dayOfWeek;
public DayOfWeek SelectedDay
get { return dayOfWeek; }
if (dayOfWeek != value)
dayOfWeek = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(SelectedDay));
And finally to bind the ComboBox view (using the ValueConverter in the ItemsSource binding)...
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=SelectedDay, Converter={x:EnumToCollectionConverter}, Mode=OneTime}"
SelectedValuePath="Value"
DisplayMemberPath="Description"
SelectedValue="{Binding Path=SelectedDay, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" />
To implement this solution you only need to copy my EnumHelper class and EnumToCollectionConverter class. They will work with any enums. Also, I didn't include it here, but the ValueDescription class is just a simple class with 2 public object properties, one called Value, one called Description. You can create that yourself or you can change the code to use a Tuple<object, object> or KeyValuePair<object, object>
For those who wanted to see the ValueDescription class:
public class ValueDescription
public object Value { get; set; }
public object Description { get; set; }
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I made class which provides items source:
public class EnumToItemsSource : MarkupExtension
private readonly Type _type;
public EnumToItemsSource(Type type)
_type = type;
public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
return Enum.GetValues(_type)
.Cast<object>()
.Select(e => new { Value = (int)e, DisplayName = e.ToString() });
That's almost all... Now use it in XAML:
<ComboBox DisplayMemberPath="DisplayName"
ItemsSource="{persons:EnumToItemsSource {x:Type enums:States}}"
SelectedValue="{Binding Path=WhereEverYouWant}"
SelectedValuePath="Value" />
Change 'enums:States' to your enum
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<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="enumValues"
MethodName="GetValues" ObjectType="{x:Type System:Enum}">
<ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
<x:Type TypeName="local:ExampleEnum"/>
</ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
</ObjectDataProvider>
and then bind to static resource:
ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource enumValues}}"
based on this article
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Nick's answer has really helped me, but I realised it could be tweaked slightly, to avoid an extra class, ValueDescription.
I remembered that there exists a KeyValuePair class already in the framework, so this can be used instead.
The code changes only slightly :
public static IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>> GetAllValuesAndDescriptions<TEnum>() where TEnum : struct, IConvertible, IComparable, IFormattable
if (!typeof(TEnum).IsEnum)
throw new ArgumentException("TEnum must be an Enumeration type");
return from e in Enum.GetValues(typeof(TEnum)).Cast<Enum>()
select new KeyValuePair<string, string>(e.ToString(), e.Description());
public IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>> PlayerClassList
return EnumHelper.GetAllValuesAndDescriptions<PlayerClass>();
and finally the XAML :
<ComboBox ItemSource="{Binding Path=PlayerClassList}"
DisplayMemberPath="Value"
SelectedValuePath="Key"
SelectedValue="{Binding Path=SelectedClass}" />
I hope this is helpful to others.
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You'll need to create an array of the values in the enum, which can be created by calling System.Enum.GetValues(), passing it the Type of the enum that you want the items of.
If you specify this for the ItemsSource property, then it should be populated with all of the enum's values. You probably want to bind SelectedItem to EffectStyle (assuming it is a property of the same enum, and contains the current value).
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There are many excellent answers to this question and I humbly submit mine. I find that mine is somewhat simpler and more elegant. It requires only a value converter.
Given an enum...
public enum ImageFormat
[Description("Windows Bitmap")]
[Description("Graphics Interchange Format")]
[Description("Joint Photographic Experts Group Format")]
[Description("Portable Network Graphics Format")]
[Description("Tagged Image Format")]
TIFF,
[Description("Windows Media Photo Format")]
and a value converter...
public class ImageFormatValueConverter : IValueConverter
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
if (value is ImageFormat format)
return GetString(format);
return null;
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
if (value is string s)
return Enum.Parse(typeof(ImageFormat), s.Substring(0, s.IndexOf(':')));
return null;
public string[] Strings => GetStrings();
public static string GetString(ImageFormat format)
return format.ToString() + ": " + GetDescription(format);
public static string GetDescription(ImageFormat format)
return format.GetType().GetMember(format.ToString())[0].GetCustomAttribute<DescriptionAttribute>().Description;
public static string[] GetStrings()
List<string> list = new List<string>();
foreach (ImageFormat format in Enum.GetValues(typeof(ImageFormat)))
list.Add(GetString(format));
return list.ToArray();
resources...
<local:ImageFormatValueConverter x:Key="ImageFormatValueConverter"/>
XAML declaration...
<ComboBox Grid.Row="9" ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource ImageFormatValueConverter}, Path=Strings}"
SelectedItem="{Binding Format, Converter={StaticResource ImageFormatValueConverter}}"/>
View model...
private ImageFormat _imageFormat = ImageFormat.JPG;
public ImageFormat Format
get => _imageFormat;
if (_imageFormat != value)
_imageFormat = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
Resulting combobox...
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All the above posts have missed a simple trick. It is possible from the binding of SelectedValue to find out how to populate the ItemsSource AUTOMAGICALLY so that your XAML markup is just.
<Controls:EnumComboBox SelectedValue="{Binding Fool}"/>
For example in my ViewModel I have
public enum FoolEnum
AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD
FoolEnum _Fool;
public FoolEnum Fool
get { return _Fool; }
set { ValidateRaiseAndSetIfChanged(ref _Fool, value); }
ValidateRaiseAndSetIfChanged is my INPC hook. Yours may differ.
The implementation of EnumComboBox is as follows but first I'll need a little helper to get my enumeration strings and values
public static List<Tuple<object, string, int>> EnumToList(Type t)
return Enum
.GetValues(t)
.Cast<object>()
.Select(x=>Tuple.Create(x, x.ToString(), (int)x))
.ToList();
and the main class ( Note I'm using ReactiveUI for hooking property changes via WhenAny )
using ReactiveUI;
using ReactiveUI.Utils;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reactive.Linq;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Documents;
namespace My.Controls
public class EnumComboBox : System.Windows.Controls.ComboBox
static EnumComboBox()
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(EnumComboBox), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(EnumComboBox)));
protected override void OnInitialized( EventArgs e )
base.OnInitialized(e);
this.WhenAnyValue(p => p.SelectedValue)
.Where(p => p != null)
.Select(o => o.GetType())
.Where(t => t.IsEnum)
.DistinctUntilChanged()
.ObserveOn(RxApp.MainThreadScheduler)
.Subscribe(FillItems);
private void FillItems(Type enumType)
List<KeyValuePair<object, string>> values = new List<KeyValuePair<object,string>>();
foreach (var idx in EnumUtils.EnumToList(enumType))
values.Add(new KeyValuePair<object, string>(idx.Item1, idx.Item2));
this.ItemsSource = values.Select(o=>o.Key.ToString()).ToList();
UpdateLayout();
this.ItemsSource = values;
this.DisplayMemberPath = "Value";
this.SelectedValuePath = "Key";
You also need to set the style correctly in Generic.XAML or your box won't render anything and you will pull your hair out.
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:EnumComboBox}" BasedOn="{StaticResource {x:Type ComboBox}}">
</Style>
and that is that. This could obviously be extended to support i18n but would make the post longer.
Universal apps seem to work a bit differently; it doesn't have all the power of full-featured XAML. What worked for me is:
I created a list of the enum values as the enums (not converted to
strings or to integers) and bound the ComboBox ItemsSource to that
Then I could bind the ComboBox ItemSelected to my public property
whose type is the enum in question
Just for fun I whipped up a little templated class to help with this and published it to the MSDN Samples pages. The extra bits let me optionally override the names of the enums and to let me hide some of the enums. My code looks an awful like like Nick's (above), which I wish I had seen earlier.
If you are binding to an actual enum property on your ViewModel, not a int representation of an enum, things get tricky. I found it is necessary to bind to the string representation, NOT the int value as is expected in all of the above examples.
You can tell if this is the case by binding a simple textbox to the property you want to bind to on your ViewModel. If it shows text, bind to the string. If it shows a number, bind to the value. Note I have used Display twice which would normally be an error, but it's the only way it works.
<ComboBox SelectedValue="{Binding ElementMap.EdiDataType, Mode=TwoWay}"
DisplayMemberPath="Display"
SelectedValuePath="Display"
ItemsSource="{Binding Source={core:EnumToItemsSource {x:Type edi:EdiDataType}}}" />
public class EnumItemsConverter : IValueConverter
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
if (!value.GetType().IsEnum)
return false;
var enumName = value.GetType();
var obj = Enum.Parse(enumName, value.ToString());
return System.Convert.ToInt32(obj);
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
return Enum.ToObject(targetType, System.Convert.ToInt32(value));
You should extend Rogers and Greg's answer with such kind of Enum value converter, if you're binding straight to enum object model properties.
I liked tom.maruska's answer, but I needed to support any enum type which my template might encounter at runtime. For that, I had to use a binding to specify the type to the markup extension. I was able to work in this answer from nicolay.anykienko to come up with a very flexible markup extension which would work in any case I can think of. It is consumed like this:
<ComboBox SelectedValue="{Binding MyEnumProperty}"
SelectedValuePath="Value"
ItemsSource="{local:EnumToObjectArray SourceEnum={Binding MyEnumProperty}}"
DisplayMemberPath="DisplayName" />
The source for the mashed up markup extension referenced above:
class EnumToObjectArray : MarkupExtension
public BindingBase SourceEnum { get; set; }
public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
IProvideValueTarget target = serviceProvider.GetService(typeof(IProvideValueTarget)) as IProvideValueTarget;
DependencyObject targetObject;
DependencyProperty targetProperty;
if (target != null && target.TargetObject is DependencyObject && target.TargetProperty is DependencyProperty)
targetObject = (DependencyObject)target.TargetObject;
targetProperty = (DependencyProperty)target.TargetProperty;
return this;
BindingOperations.SetBinding(targetObject, EnumToObjectArray.SourceEnumBindingSinkProperty, SourceEnum);
var type = targetObject.GetValue(SourceEnumBindingSinkProperty).GetType();
if (type.BaseType != typeof(System.Enum)) return this;
return Enum.GetValues(type)
.Cast<Enum>()
.Select(e => new { Value=e, Name = e.ToString(), DisplayName = Description(e) });
private static DependencyProperty SourceEnumBindingSinkProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("SourceEnumBindingSink", typeof(Enum)
, typeof(EnumToObjectArray), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.Inherits));
/// <summary>
/// Extension method which returns the string specified in the Description attribute, if any. Oherwise, name is returned.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="value">The enum value.</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static string Description(Enum value)
var attrs = value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString()).GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);
if (attrs.Any())
return (attrs.First() as DescriptionAttribute).Description;
//Fallback
return value.ToString().Replace("_", " ");
Simple and clear explanation:
http://brianlagunas.com/a-better-way-to-data-bind-enums-in-wpf/
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:BindingEnums"
xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
<Window.Resources>
<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="dataFromEnum" MethodName="GetValues"
ObjectType="{x:Type sys:Enum}">
<ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
<x:Type TypeName="local:Status"/>
</ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
</ObjectDataProvider>
</Window.Resources>
<ComboBox HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" MinWidth="150"
ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource dataFromEnum}}"/>
</Grid>
Using ReactiveUI, I've created the following alternate solution. It's not an elegant all-in-one solution, but I think at the very least it's readable.
In my case, binding a list of enum to a control is a rare case, so I don't need to scale the solution across the code base. However, the code can be made more generic by changing EffectStyleLookup.Item into an Object. I tested it with my code, no other modifications are necessary. Which means the one helper class could be applied to any enum list. Though that would reduce its readability - ReactiveList<EnumLookupHelper> doesn't have a great ring to it.
Using the following helper class:
public class EffectStyleLookup
public EffectStyle Item { get; set; }
public string Display { get; set; }
In the ViewModel, convert the list of enums and expose it as a property:
public ViewModel : ReactiveObject
private ReactiveList<EffectStyleLookup> _effectStyles;
public ReactiveList<EffectStyleLookup> EffectStyles
get { return _effectStyles; }
set { this.RaiseAndSetIfChanged(ref _effectStyles, value); }
// See below for more on this
private EffectStyle _selectedEffectStyle;
public EffectStyle SelectedEffectStyle
get { return _selectedEffectStyle; }
set { this.RaiseAndSetIfChanged(ref _selectedEffectStyle, value); }
public ViewModel()
// Convert a list of enums into a ReactiveList
var list = (IList<EffectStyle>)Enum.GetValues(typeof(EffectStyle))
.Select( x => new EffectStyleLookup() {
Item = x,
Display = x.ToString()
EffectStyles = new ReactiveList<EffectStyle>( list );
In the ComboBox, utilise the SelectedValuePath property, to bind to the original enum value:
<ComboBox Name="EffectStyle" DisplayMemberPath="Display" SelectedValuePath="Item" />
In the View, this allows us to bind the original enum to the SelectedEffectStyle in the ViewModel, but display the ToString() value in the ComboBox:
this.WhenActivated( d =>
d( this.OneWayBind(ViewModel, vm => vm.EffectStyles, v => v.EffectStyle.ItemsSource) );
d( this.Bind(ViewModel, vm => vm.SelectedEffectStyle, v => v.EffectStyle.SelectedValue) );
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I'm adding my comment (in VB, sadly, but the concept can be easily replicated over to C# in a heartbeat), because I just had to reference this and didn't like any of the answers as they were too complex. It shouldn't have to be this difficult.
So I came up with an easier way. Bind the Enumerators to a Dictionary. Bind that dictionary to the Combobox.
My combobox:
<ComboBox x:Name="cmbRole" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" IsEditable="False" Padding="2"
Margin="0" FontSize="11" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" TabIndex="104"
SelectedValuePath="Key" DisplayMemberPath="Value" />
My code-behind. Hopefully, this helps someone else out.
Dim tDict As New Dictionary(Of Integer, String)
Dim types = [Enum].GetValues(GetType(Helper.Enumerators.AllowedType))
For Each x As Helper.Enumerators.AllowedType In types
Dim z = x.ToString()
Dim y = CInt(x)
tDict.Add(y, z)
cmbRole.ClearValue(ItemsControl.ItemsSourceProperty)
cmbRole.ItemsSource = tDict
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I wouldn't recommend implementing this as it is but hopefully this can inspire a good solution.
Let's say your enum is Foo. Then you can do something like this.
public class FooViewModel : ViewModel
private int _fooValue;
public int FooValue
get => _fooValue;
_fooValue = value;
OnPropertyChange();
OnPropertyChange(nameof(Foo));
OnPropertyChange(nameof(FooName));
public Foo Foo
get => (Foo)FooValue;
_fooValue = (int)value;
OnPropertyChange();
OnPropertyChange(nameof(FooValue));
OnPropertyChange(nameof(FooName));
public string FooName { get => Enum.GetName(typeof(Foo), Foo); }
public FooViewModel(Foo foo)
Foo = foo;
Then on Window.Load method you can load all enums to an ObservableCollection<FooViewModel> which you can set as the DataContext of the combobox.
I just kept it simple. I created a list of items with the enum values in my ViewModel:
public enum InputsOutputsBoth
Inputs,
Outputs,
private IList<InputsOutputsBoth> _ioTypes = new List<InputsOutputsBoth>()
InputsOutputsBoth.Both,
InputsOutputsBoth.Inputs,
InputsOutputsBoth.Outputs
public IEnumerable<InputsOutputsBoth> IoTypes
get { return _ioTypes; }
set { }
private InputsOutputsBoth _selectedIoType;
public InputsOutputsBoth SelectedIoType
get { return _selectedIoType; }
_selectedIoType = value;
OnPropertyChanged("SelectedIoType");
OnSelectionChanged();
In my xaml code I just need this:
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding IoTypes}" SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedIoType, Mode=TwoWay}">
<Window.Resources>
<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="DiaryTypeEnum"
MethodName="GetValues" ObjectType="{x:Type System:Enum}">
<ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
<x:Type TypeName="z:Enums+DiaryType"/>
</ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
</ObjectDataProvider>
</Window.Resources>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource DiaryTypeEnum}}" SelectedItem="{x:Static z:Enums+DiaryType.Defect}" />
Where z its xmlns:z="clr-namespace:ProjName.Helpers"
My Enum into static class
public static class Enums
public enum DiaryType
State,
Defect,
Service,
Other
public enum OtherEnumOrMethods
//TODO
Nick's solution can be simplified more, with nothing fancy, you would only need a single converter:
[ValueConversion(typeof(Enum), typeof(IEnumerable<Enum>))]
public class EnumToCollectionConverter : MarkupExtension, IValueConverter
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
var r = Enum.GetValues(value.GetType());
return r;
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
return null;
public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
return this;
You then use this wherever you want your combo box to appear:
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding PagePosition, Converter={converter:EnumToCollectionConverter}, Mode=OneTime}" SelectedItem="{Binding PagePosition}" />
here is my short answer.
public enum Direction { Left, Right, Up, Down };
public class Program
public Direction ScrollingDirection { get; set; }
public List<string> Directions { get; } = new List<string>();
public Program()
loadListDirection();
private void loadListDirection()
Directions.AddRange(Enum.GetNames(typeof(Direction)));
And Xaml:
<ComboBox SelectedIndex="0" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Directions, Mode=OneWay}" SelectedItem="{Binding Path=ScrollingDirection, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
Good Luck!
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