Converter to show description of an enum, and convert back to enum value on selecting an item from combo box in wpf

Here is ConvertBack method:

public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture){    return value;}

Full Converter Code:

public class EnumConverter : IValueConverter{    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)    {        if (value == null) return DependencyProperty.UnsetValue;        return GetDescription((Enum)value);    }    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)    {        return value;    }    public static string GetDescription(Enum en)    {        Type type = en.GetType();        MemberInfo[] memInfo = type.GetMember(en.ToString());        if (memInfo != null && memInfo.Length > 0)        {            object[] attrs = memInfo[0].GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);            if (attrs != null && attrs.Length > 0)            {                return ((DescriptionAttribute)attrs[0]).Description;            }        }        return en.ToString();    }}

EDIT

Here is my ComboBox XAML:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding SampleValues}"           SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedValue, Converter={StaticResource enumConverter}}">    <ComboBox.ItemTemplate>        <DataTemplate>            <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=., Converter={StaticResource enumConverter}}" />        </DataTemplate>    </ComboBox.ItemTemplate></ComboBox>

I know this is an old question, but for some reason, this is rather complicated, even though it seems like it'd be a pretty common task (I'm currently doing this on a UWP app). Using a combination of the accepted answer, some other items I found, and a bit of my own work, here's the simplest way I've found to accomplish this menial task. In short:

• Define your enum along w/ setting the description in the Display attribute
• Create a converter that converts from an enum value to the description
• In your viewmodel, expose a collection of enum values from which to choose, the selected enum value, then initialize those
• Define a couple of handy enum extension methods
• Finally, some simple binding to the ComboBox, just overriding its ItemTemplate to use the converter.

Enum

public enum EnumOptions{    [Display(Description = "Option 1")]    OptionOne= 1,    [Display(Description = "Option 2")]    OptionTwo,    [Display(Description = "Option 3")]    OptionThree}

Converter

public class EnumToDisplayConverter : IValueConverter{    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, string language)    {        var enumValue = value as Enum;        return enumValue == null ? DependencyProperty.UnsetValue : enumValue.GetDescriptionFromEnumValue();    }    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, string language)    {        return value;    }}

Viewmodel (partial)

public IReadOnlyList<EnumOptions> Options { get; }private EnumOptions _selectedOption;public EnumOptions SelectedOption{    get { return _selectedOption; }    set    {        _selectedOption = value;        OnPropertyChanged(() => SelectedOption);    }}// Initialization in constructorOptions = EnumExtensions.GetValues<EnumOptions>().ToArray();// If you want to set a default.SelectedOption = Options[0];

Extensions

public static class EnumExtensions{    public static string GetDescriptionFromEnumValue(this Enum value)    {        var attribute = value.GetType()            .GetField(value.ToString())            .GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DisplayAttribute), false)            .SingleOrDefault() as DisplayAttribute;        return attribute == null ? value.ToString() : attribute.Description;    }    /// <summary>    /// Enumerates all enum values    /// </summary>    /// <typeparam name="T">Enum type</typeparam>    /// <returns>IEnumerable containing all enum values</returns>    /// <see cref="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/972307/can-you-loop-through-all-enum-values"/>    public static IEnumerable<T> GetValues<T>()    {        return Enum.GetValues(typeof (T)).Cast<T>();    }}

XAML (partial)

<TextBlock Grid.Row="1">Choose an option</TextBlock><ComboBox Grid.Row="2"          ItemsSource="{Binding Options}"          SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedOption, Mode=TwoWay}">    <ComboBox.ItemTemplate>        <DataTemplate>            <TextBlock Text="{Binding Converter={StaticResource EnumToDisplayConverter}}"></TextBlock>        </DataTemplate>    </ComboBox.ItemTemplate></ComboBox>

[ValueConversion(typeof(MyEnum), typeof(String))]public class MyEnumConverter : IValueConverter{    public object Convert(object value,        Type targetType,        object parameter,        CultureInfo culture)    {        var enumVal = (MyEnum)value;        // in this example, this is an extension method        return enumValue.Description();    }    public object ConvertBack(object value,        Type targetType,        object parameter,        CultureInfo culture)    {        var enumDesc = value as string;        MyEnum val;        if (Enum.TryParse(typeof(MyEnum), strValue, out val))        {            return val;        }        return DependencyProperty.UnsetValue;    }}

The extension method in the example might look like this:

public static string Description(this MyEnum enumVal){    // you could use a switch statement here;    // or maybe a Dictionary}