EnumerationString

EnumerationString is a string-valued representation that encodes one or more members of a predefined set of enumerated values. It is used to serialize or transmit selections drawn from an enum, without sending the actual enum type. As a representation, EnumerationString is not a type in itself but a format that carries a list of allowed tokens.

Common formats include comma-separated values such as "Pending,Active", a JSON array like ["Pending","Active"], or a pipe-delimited string such as "Pending|Active|Closed". The choice of format depends on the target system, the need for portability, and the expectations for encoding special characters.

When using an EnumerationString, parsing and validation are essential. The string should be split into tokens, each token checked against the set of allowed enum members, and duplicates removed if required. How to handle unknown tokens, empty strings, and whitespace varies by application; some schemes ignore unknown values, others raise an error or log a warning. To ensure predictable behavior, establish rules for case sensitivity, order, and canonical representation.

EnumerationString is commonly employed for data interchange between services, configuration files, user input that allows multiple selections, and search indexing where multiple categories must be represented compactly. In software design, it is often paired with a defined enum type and a small utility that converts between the string form and the in-memory enum values, with attention to backward compatibility and localization.

Example: with an enum Status { Pending, Active, Closed }, an EnumerationString might be "Pending,Active". See also Enum, Serialization, CSV, JSON.