You will have to make an EnumConverter class and decorate your property with a TypeConverter attribute in order to do this.
See this Using PropertyGrid in .NET, it's a fun example:
Imagine that you want more than two items in list. The boolean type is not enough; you need to set Description attributes with a name for every element in enum.
enum DrinkDoses {
[Description("Half of litre")]
litre,
[Description("One litre")]
oneLitre,
[Description("Two litres")]
twoLitre,
[Description("Three litres")]
threeLitres,
[Description("Four litres")]
fourLitres,
[Description("Death dose, five litres")]
fiveLitres
}
In another class you need to utilize the type EnumConverter.
class DrinkDosesConverter : EnumConverter {
private Type enumType;
public DrinkDosesConverter(Type type) : base(type) {
enumType = type;
}
public override bool CanConvertTo(ITypeDescriptorContext context, Type destType) {
return destType == typeof(string);
}
public override object ConvertTo(ITypeDescriptorContext context, CultureInfo culture,
object value, Type destType) {
FieldInfo fi = enumType.GetField(Enum.GetName(enumType, value));
DescriptionAttribute dna = (DescriptionAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(fi,
typeof(DescriptionAttribute));
if (dna != null)
return dna.Description;
else
return value.ToString();
}
public override bool CanConvertFrom(ITypeDescriptorContext context, Type srcType) {
return srcType == typeof(string);
}
public override object ConvertFrom(ITypeDescriptorContext context, CultureInfo culture,
object value) {
foreach (FieldInfo fi in enumType.GetFields()) {
DescriptionAttribute dna = (DescriptionAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(fi,
typeof(DescriptionAttribute));
if ((dna != null) && ((string)value == dna.Description))
return Enum.Parse(enumType, fi.Name);
}
return Enum.Parse(enumType, (string)value);
}
}
Third, you need set the attribute TypeConverter for displaying the property.
class DrinkerDoses {
DrinkDoses doses;
[DisplayName("Doses")]
[Description("Drinker doses")]
[Category("Alcoholics drinking")]
[TypeConverter(typeof(DrinkDosesConverter))]
public DrinkDoses Doses {
get { return doses; }
set { doses = value; }
}
int dataInt;
public int DataInt {
get { return dataInt; }
set { dataInt = value; }
}
}
