Java Enum Types - Self Printing Enums

Question

I'm trying to write a java function that takes as a parameter an enum type (part of a console based menuing system). This function will then print all of the string representations in the enum.

The enum looks like this:

protected enum main{
    Option1,
    Option2,
    Option3,
    ...
    OptionN,
}

My display function looks like this

public void displayMenu(Enum menu) {
     // Get values from enum type
     Enum menuOps = menu.values();

     // Iterate over values and print
     for(int i =0 ; i < menuOps.length; i++)
            System.out.println( i + menuOps[i].toString() );
}

My problem: Apparently I must not be doing this correctly. The "menu" parameter object doesn't have a values() method in this scenario.

The desired outcome would be the displayMenu() function having an output of:

Option1
Option2
Option3
...
OptionN

Any pointers on where I'm going wrong with this? Any tips on how to implement this functionality?

Much obliged,

Noob

Answer 1

Because your print method is not dependend on a concreate enum instance, it should be based on a concreate enum class, not on an instance of this class

public static <T extends Enum<T>> void printEnum(Class<T> enumClass) {
    for (Enum<T> item : enumClass.getEnumConstants()) {
        System.out.println(item.toString());
    }
}
...
printEnum(MainEnum.class);