enums.md

Understanding Enums Data Type

Introduction

What are Enums ?

Enums, short for enumerations, provide a set list of items. Acess these enums through the global object called Enum.

For a full list of Enums and their items, see Enums in the API Reference.

Get Items from Enums

To retrieve all items from an Enum, use the GetEnumItems() method on the desired enum.

The example below illustrates how to apply GetEnumItems() to the PartType enum.

-- GetEnumItems() retrieves all items from the specified enum (PartType, in this case).
local partTypes = Enum.PartType:GetEnumItems()

-- Loop through each item in the enum and print it.
for _, enumItem in ipairs(partTypes) do
  print(enumItem)
end

This code will output

Enum.PartType.Ball
Enum.PartType.Block
Enum.PartType.Cylinder

Enum Items

In Luau, an EnumItem is the data type used for items within enums. It possesses there straigh forward properties

• Name The name assigned to the EnumItem.
• Value The numerical index associated with the EnumItem.
• EnumType The parent Enum to which the EnumItem belongs.

Certain object properties are exclusively tied to specific enums. For instance, the Shape property of a Part object is a item of the PartType Enum.

The following code snippet illustrates how to access and print the properties of the PartType.Cylinder EnumItem.

print(Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Name) --> Cylinder
print(Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Value) --> 2
print(Enum.PartType.Cylinder.EnumType) --> Part

This example showcases how to retrieve and display essential information about an EnumItem, making it easier to work with and understand enums in Luau.

Assigning Enum Items

To set an EnumItem as property value, use the full Enum declaration. Alternatively, use its Value or EnumType.

-- Create a new part
local part = Instance.new("Part")
part.Parent = workspace

-- By EnumItem (best practice)
part.Shape = Enum.PartType.Cylinder

-- By EnumItem Value
part.Shape = Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Value
part.Shape = 2 -- Equivalent to Enum value

-- By EnumItem Name
part.Shape = Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Name
part.Shape = "Cylinder" -- Equivalent to Enum name

This concise guide illustrates different ways to assign EnumItem values to the Shape property of a Part in Luau.