Enums

The enumeration data type, or Enum, is a fixed list of items. You can access enums through the global object called Enum. For a full list of Enums and their items, see Enums in the API Reference.

Getting Items of Enums

To get all items of an Enum, call the GetEnumItems() method on the enum. The following code sample demonstrates how to call GetEnumItems() on the PartType enum.

local partTypes = Enum.PartType:GetEnumItems()

for index, enumItem in ipairs(partTypes) do

	print(enumItem)

end



--[[

	Enum.PartType.Ball

	Enum.PartType.Block

	Enum.PartType.Cylinder

]]

Enum Items

The EnumItem is the data type for items in enums. An EnumItem has three properties:

  • Name - The name of the EnumIem.
  • Value - The numerical index of the EnumItem.
  • EnumType - The parent Enum of the EnumItem.

Some properties of objects can only be items of certain enums. For example, the Shape property of a Part object is an item of the PartType Enum. The following code sample demonstrates how to print the properties of the PartType.Cylinder EnumItem.

-- Properties of the EnumItem called Enum.PartType.Cylinder

print(Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Name) -- Cylinder

print(Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Value) -- 2

print(Enum.PartType.Cylinder.EnumType) -- PartType

Assigning Enum Items

To assign an EnumItem as the value of a property, use the full Enum declaration. You can also use its Value or EnumType.

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

part.Parent = game.Workspace



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

part.Shape = Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Value -- By EnumItem Value

part.Shape = 2  -- By EnumItem Value

part.Shape = Enum.PartType.Cylinder.Name -- By EnumItem Name

part.Shape = "Cylinder"  -- By EnumItem Name