Enum in PowerShell Class

Question

I am playing with learning PowerShell classes, and I have a validation situation that kind of lends itself to Enums, as shown in the first example. With Enum

Enum pxPathType {
  FileSystem_Folder = 0
  FileSystem_File   = 1
  Registry_Key      = 2
  Registry_Property = 3
}

class PxConstant {
    # Static Properties
    static [string] $RegExPathWithWildcard = '\\\*\.\*$|\\\*|\\.\.\*$|\*\.(\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}\?)$|\\[^\\]*\.(\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}\?)$|\\[^\\]*\.\*$'
}

class PxPath {
    # Properties
    [string]$Type = $null

    # Constructors
    PxPath ([string]$path) {
        $this.Type = [PxPath]::PathType($path)
    }
    PxPath ([string]$path, [string]$pathType) {
        #$pathTypeEnum = try {
        $this.Type = try {
            [pxPathType] $pathType 
        } catch { 
            Throw "Not a valid path type: $pathType"
        }
    }

    static [String] PathType ([String]$path) {
        [string]$pathType = $null
        if ($path -match [PxConstant]::RegExPathWithWildcard) {
            $pathWithoutWildcard = $path -replace [regex]::escape($matches[0]), ''
            Write-Host $pathWithoutWildcard
        }
        return $pathType
    }
}

$pathType = 'FileSystem_Folders'
$path = try {
    [PxPath]::New("C:\", $pathType)
} catch {
    Write-Host "$($_.Exception.Message)"
}
$path = try {
    [PxPath]::New("\\Server\Folder\*")
} catch {
    Write-Host "$($_.Exception.Message)"
}

The issue I have is that the Enum is only EVER used in the PxPath class, and I feel like that means I should have the Enum in the class, so it's self contained. However, PS5 doesn't allow an Enum in a class. The workaround I have come up with is to instead use an array as a hidden Property of the class instead, as in this second example.

With Array in Class

class PxConstant {
    # Static Properties
    static [string] $RegExPathWithWildcard = '\\\*\.\*$|\\\*|\\.\.\*$|\*\.(\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}\?)$|\\[^\\]*\.(\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]\?[a-zA-Z0-9\?]|[a-zA-Z0-9\?]{2}\?)$|\\[^\\]*\.\*$'
}

class PxPath {
    # Properties
    hidden [string[]]$validPathTypes = @('FileSystem_Folder', 'FileSystem_File', 'Registry_Key', 'Registry_Property')
    [string]$Type = $null

    # Constructors
    PxPath ([string]$path) {
        $this.Type = [PxPath]::PathType($path)
    }
    PxPath ([string]$path, [string]$pathType) {
        if ($this.validPathTypes -contains $pathType) {
            $this.Type = $pathType 
        } else {
            Throw "Not a valid path type: $pathType"
        }
    }

    static [String] PathType ([String]$path) {
        [string]$pathType = $null
        if ($path -match [PxConstant]::RegExPathWithWildcard) {
            $pathWithoutWildcard = $path -replace [regex]::escape($matches[0]), ''
            Write-Host $pathWithoutWildcard
        }
        return $pathType
    }
}

$pathType = 'FileSystem_Folders'
$path = try {
    [PxPath]::New("C:\", $pathType)
} catch {
    Write-Host "$($_.Exception.Message)"
}
$path = try {
    [PxPath]::New("\\Server\Folder\*")
} catch {
    Write-Host "$($_.Exception.Message)"
}

I'm wondering if there is a performance or functional argument for one over the other? Or perhaps a strong Best Practice argument in favor? Or is this coders choice really?

Answer 1

The best argument for using an enum in this context is the ability to:

1. Early input validation
2. Allowing users to discover valid inputs

In order to take advantage of that, your first example needs a slight change to use the enum type as the parameter type:

class PxPath {
    PxPath ([string]$path, [pxPathType]$pathType) {
        # if user input a string that doesn't correspond 
        # to a [pxPathType] name, we won't even get this far!
    }
}

Now, your user has the option to pass either a [pxPathType] value or a corresponding string value:

$pxPath = [PxPath]::new("some\path", [pxPathType]::FileSystem_Folder)
# or
$pxPath = [PxPath]::new("some\path", 'FileSystem_Folder')

But this would fail even before we reach inside the constructor:

$pxPath = [PxPath]::new("some\path", 'not_a_valid_enum_name')