How to TryParse for Enum value?

I want to write a function which can validate a given value (passed as a string) against possible values of an enum. In the case of a match, it should return the enum instance; otherwise, it should return a default value.

The function may not internally use try/catch, which excludes using Enum.Parse, which throws an exception when given an invalid argument.

I'd like to use something along the lines of a TryParse function to implement this:

public static TEnum ToEnum<TEnum>(this string strEnumValue, TEnum defaultValue)
{
   object enumValue;
   if (!TryParse (typeof (TEnum), strEnumValue, out enumValue))
   {
       return defaultValue;
   }
   return (TEnum) enumValue;
}

Enum.IsDefined will get things done. It may not be as efficient as a TryParse would probably be, but it will work without exception handling.

public static TEnum ToEnum<TEnum>(this string strEnumValue, TEnum defaultValue)
{
    if (!Enum.IsDefined(typeof(TEnum), strEnumValue))
        return defaultValue;

    return (TEnum)Enum.Parse(typeof(TEnum), strEnumValue);
}

Worth noting: a TryParse method was added in .NET 4.0.

As others have said, you have to implement your own TryParse. Simon Mourier is providing a full implementation which takes care of everything.

If you are using bitfield enums (i.e. flags), you also have to handle a string like "MyEnum.Val1|MyEnum.Val2" which is a combination of two enum values. If you just call Enum.IsDefined with this string, it will return false, even though Enum.Parse handles it correctly.

Update

As mentioned by Lisa and Christian in the comments, Enum.TryParse is now available for C# in .NET4 and up.

MSDN Docs

Here is a custom implementation of EnumTryParse. Unlike other common implementations, it also supports enum marked with the Flags attribute.

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts the string representation of an enum to its Enum equivalent value. A return value indicates whether the operation succeeded.
    /// This method does not rely on Enum.Parse and therefore will never raise any first or second chance exception.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="type">The enum target type. May not be null.</param>
    /// <param name="input">The input text. May be null.</param>
    /// <param name="value">When this method returns, contains Enum equivalent value to the enum contained in input, if the conversion succeeded.</param>
    /// <returns>
    /// true if s was converted successfully; otherwise, false.
    /// </returns>
    public static bool EnumTryParse(Type type, string input, out object value)
    {
        if (type == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("type");

        if (!type.IsEnum)
            throw new ArgumentException(null, "type");

        if (input == null)
        {
            value = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
            return false;
        }

        input = input.Trim();
        if (input.Length == 0)
        {
            value = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
            return false;
        }

        string[] names = Enum.GetNames(type);
        if (names.Length == 0)
        {
            value = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
            return false;
        }

        Type underlyingType = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(type);
        Array values = Enum.GetValues(type);
        // some enums like System.CodeDom.MemberAttributes *are* flags but are not declared with Flags...
        if ((!type.IsDefined(typeof(FlagsAttribute), true)) && (input.IndexOfAny(_enumSeperators) < 0))
            return EnumToObject(type, underlyingType, names, values, input, out value);

        // multi value enum
        string[] tokens = input.Split(_enumSeperators, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
        if (tokens.Length == 0)
        {
            value = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
            return false;
        }

        ulong ul = 0;
        foreach (string tok in tokens)
        {
            string token = tok.Trim(); // NOTE: we don't consider empty tokens as errors
            if (token.Length == 0)
                continue;

            object tokenValue;
            if (!EnumToObject(type, underlyingType, names, values, token, out tokenValue))
            {
                value = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
                return false;
            }

            ulong tokenUl;
            switch (Convert.GetTypeCode(tokenValue))
            {
                case TypeCode.Int16:
                case TypeCode.Int32:
                case TypeCode.Int64:
                case TypeCode.SByte:
                    tokenUl = (ulong)Convert.ToInt64(tokenValue, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
                    break;

                //case TypeCode.Byte:
                //case TypeCode.UInt16:
                //case TypeCode.UInt32:
                //case TypeCode.UInt64:
                default:
                    tokenUl = Convert.ToUInt64(tokenValue, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
                    break;
            }

            ul |= tokenUl;
        }
        value = Enum.ToObject(type, ul);
        return true;
    }

    private static char[] _enumSeperators = new char[] { ',', ';', '+', '|', ' ' };

    private static object EnumToObject(Type underlyingType, string input)
    {
        if (underlyingType == typeof(int))
        {
            int s;
            if (int.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        if (underlyingType == typeof(uint))
        {
            uint s;
            if (uint.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        if (underlyingType == typeof(ulong))
        {
            ulong s;
            if (ulong.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        if (underlyingType == typeof(long))
        {
            long s;
            if (long.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        if (underlyingType == typeof(short))
        {
            short s;
            if (short.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        if (underlyingType == typeof(ushort))
        {
            ushort s;
            if (ushort.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        if (underlyingType == typeof(byte))
        {
            byte s;
            if (byte.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        if (underlyingType == typeof(sbyte))
        {
            sbyte s;
            if (sbyte.TryParse(input, out s))
                return s;
        }

        return null;
    }

    private static bool EnumToObject(Type type, Type underlyingType, string[] names, Array values, string input, out object value)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < names.Length; i++)
        {
            if (string.Compare(names[i], input, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) == 0)
            {
                value = values.GetValue(i);
                return true;
            }
        }

        if ((char.IsDigit(input[0]) || (input[0] == '-')) || (input[0] == '+'))
        {
            object obj = EnumToObject(underlyingType, input);
            if (obj == null)
            {
                value = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
                return false;
            }
            value = obj;
            return true;
        }

        value = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
        return false;
    }