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Enum values

Learn to access enum members.

Accessing enum values

You access all constants of a defined enum with .values. It is a list of constants in their writing order. Color.values gives you [Color.red, Color.green, Color.blue]. You can loop over it, take the first or the last element.

Each constant has an .index property giving its position in the definition; the first constant is 0. .name returns the constant's name as a string. Color.green.name gives "green". These properties are useful for listing enums, building menus and logging.

The index property

The position of a constant in the definition is given by .index. The first constant is 0, the next ones increase by one. Color.red.index gives 0, Color.blue.index gives 2. Handy to show which row a constant is on in a menu.

.name returns the constant's name as a string; Color.green.name gives "green". They can be used together: a log line can carry both the index and the name. Comparing with .name strings is riskier than using Color.green directly; a typo is caught at compile time with the constant.

Practice Your turn: list constants

Define an enum Day with constants monday, tuesday, wednesday. In main loop over Day.values with a for and print each .name.

Starter code

main.dart
void main() {
  // Define Day enum: monday, tuesday, wednesday
  // Loop over all constants
  // Print .name
}

Sample solution

main.dart
enum Day { monday, tuesday, wednesday }

void main() {
  for (final d in Day.values) {
    print(d.name);
  }
}

Expected output

monday
tuesday
wednesday

Questions and answers

Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.

1 The .values property

Question 
final list = Color.____;
Answer 
final list = Color.values;

Explanation: .values gives all constants as a list.

2 Match enum properties

Term Meaning
.values list of all constants
.index position number
.name constant name as string
Color.green a single constant

3 What does Color.values return?

main.dart
final all = Color.values;
  • a single Color
  • a number
  • a string
  • a list of Color (List<Color>) Correct answer

Explanation: .values is the list of all constants.

All lessons in Beginner

1 Dart basics

  1. What is Dart?
  2. Your first program
  3. dart run
  4. Comments
  5. String interpolation
  6. Summary - Dart basics

2 Variables

  1. var and type
  2. final
  3. const
  4. late
  5. Null safety
  6. Summary - Variables

3 Data types

  1. Integer types
  2. Floating-point types
  3. bool and String
  4. Type inference
  5. dynamic
  6. Summary - Data types

4 Project: Calculator

  1. Project design
  2. Add and subtract
  3. Multiply and divide
  4. Error handling
  5. Putting it together

5 Operators

  1. Arithmetic operators
  2. Assignment operators
  3. Comparison operators
  4. Logical operators
  5. Null-aware operators
  6. Summary - Operators

6 Strings

  1. Creating strings
  2. String interpolation
  3. length and methods
  4. substring
  5. contains and indexOf
  6. Summary - Strings

7 Conditionals

  1. The if statement
  2. else and else if
  3. switch
  4. Pattern matching
  5. Ternary
  6. Summary - Conditionals

8 Loops

  1. The for loop
  2. The while loop
  3. The do-while loop
  4. for-in
  5. break and continue
  6. Summary - Loops

9 Project: Shopping cart

  1. Cart design
  2. Adding items
  3. Calculating totals
  4. Listing the cart
  5. Putting it together

10 Lists

  1. Creating lists
  2. List access
  3. add and remove
  4. length and contains
  5. List methods
  6. Summary - Lists

11 Sets and Maps

  1. Set
  2. Set operations
  3. Map
  4. Map operations
  5. Map iteration
  6. Summary - Sets and Maps

12 Functions

  1. Defining functions
  2. Return values
  3. Arrow functions
  4. Optional parameters
  5. First-class functions
  6. Summary - Functions

13 Null safety in depth

  1. Nullable types
  2. Null-aware operators
  3. The ! operator
  4. late
  5. Null check
  6. Summary - Null safety

14 Class basics

  1. class
  2. Constructor
  3. Instance variables
  4. Methods
  5. this
  6. Summary - Class basics

15 Project: To-do CLI

  1. Task model
  2. Adding tasks
  3. Listing tasks
  4. Completing tasks
  5. Putting it together

16 Advanced string operations

  1. split and join
  2. replace
  3. trim and pad
  4. RegExp
  5. StringBuffer
  6. Summary - Advanced strings

17 Enums

  1. Defining enums
  2. Enum values
  3. Enhanced enums
  4. switch with enum
  5. Enum and patterns
  6. Summary - Enums

18 Exceptions

  1. try/catch
  2. throw
  3. finally
  4. The Exception class
  5. on clause
  6. Summary - Exceptions

19 Async basics

  1. Future
  2. async/await
  3. then
  4. Future.error
  5. Future.wait
  6. Summary - Async basics

20 Beginner final

  1. Project design
  2. Classes
  3. Collections
  4. Error handling
  5. Putting it together