String.ToEnum<'a>
Shortcut for the .NET 4 Enum.TryParse(). Defaults to ignoring case, returns an F# Option to indicate success/failure. Unlike a C# extension method, this is able to enforce that the generic type is an enum at compile time.
Source
namespace Foo
open System
[<AutoOpen>]
module FsExtensions =
type String with
/// Strongly-typed shortcut for Enum.TryParse(). Defaults to ignoring case.
member this.ToEnum<'a when 'a :> Enum and 'a : struct and 'a : (new: unit -> 'a)> (?ignoreCase) =
let ok, v = Enum.TryParse<'a>(this, defaultArg ignoreCase true)
if ok then Some v else NoneExample
match "DarkRed".ToEnum<ConsoleColor> with
| Some x -> "Parsed successfully."
| None -> "Not a valid value."