Slide 1

The System.Enum type

The type System.Enum is the abstract base class of all enum types (this is distinct and different from the underlying type of the enum type), and the members inherited from System.Enum are available in any enum type. A boxing conversion (Boxing conversions) exists from any enum type to System.Enum, and an unboxing conversion (Unboxing conversions) exists from System.Enum to any enum

Note: that System.Enum is not itself an enum_type. Rather, it is a class_type from which all enum_types are derived. The type System.Enum inherits from the type System.ValueType (The System.ValueType type), which, in turn, inherits from type object. At run-time, a value of type System.Enum can be null or a reference to a boxed value of any enum type.