Type.GetEnumUnderlyingType() Method in C#

The Type.GetEnumUnderlyingType() method in C# is used to return the underlying type of the current enumeration type.

Syntax

Following is the syntax −

public virtual Type GetEnumUnderlyingType ();

Example

Let us now see an example to implement the Type.GetEnumUnderlyingType() method −

using System;
public class Demo {
   enum Vehicle {Car, Bus, Bike, Airplane}
   public static void Main(){
      try {
         Vehicle v = Vehicle.Bike;
         Type type = v.GetType();
         string[] str = type.GetEnumNames();
         Console.WriteLine("GetEnumName() to return the constant name = " + str);
         Type type2 = type.GetEnumUnderlyingType();
         Console.Write("Enum Underlying type = "+type2);
         Console.WriteLine("
Listing constants ..");
         for (int i = 0; i < str.Length; i++)
            Console.Write("{0} ", str[i]);
      }
      catch (ArgumentException e){
         Console.WriteLine("Not an enum!");
         Console.Write("{0}", e.GetType(), e.Message);
      }
   }
}

Output

This will produce the following output −

GetEnumName() to return the constant name = System.String[]
Enum Underlying type = System.Int32
Listing constants ..
Car Bus Bike Airplane

Example

Let us now see another example to implement the Type.GetEnumUnderlyingType() method −

using System;
public class Demo {
   enum Vehicle {Car, Bus, Bike, Airplane}
   public static void Main(){
      try {
         Type type = typeof(int);
         string[] str = type.GetEnumNames();
         Console.WriteLine("GetEnumName() to return the constant name = " + str);
         Type type2 = type.GetEnumUnderlyingType();
         Console.Write("Enum Underlying type = "+type2);
         Console.WriteLine("
Listing constants ..");
         for (int i = 0; i < str.Length; i++)
            Console.Write("{0} ", str[i]);
      }
      catch (ArgumentException e){
         Console.WriteLine("Not an enum!");
         Console.Write("{0}", e.GetType(), e.Message);
      }
   }
}

Output

This will produce the following output −

Not an enum!
System.ArgumentException