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Extend a Java Enum with additional functions

I have an enum from a common Library (it cannot be changed) as a field from a Class.
I need to use that enum values as a switch-case in order to do something accordingly (for example save some data to a database).
This is for a Java 11 micro-service using Spring as a framework.
What I did before knowing the enum has to stay immutable, I avoided an ugly switch case with an overridden abstract function inside the enum like this:
public enum InvoiceStatus {
DRAFT {
#Override public void action(InputMessage inputMessage) {
invoiceFileService.draft(inputMessage);
}
},
VALID {
#Override public void action(InputMessage inputMessage) {
invoiceFileService.valid(eiInvoiceFileMessage);
}
},
NOT_VALID {
#Override public void action(InputMessage inputMessage) {
invoiceFileService.notValid(eiInvoiceFileMessage);
}
};
//+20 more values...
#Autowired
InvoiceFileService invoiceFileService;
public abstract void action(InputMessage inputMessage);
}
and I simply called the enum like this, so with different values from the enum the called function from the service would be different without writing a long switch-case.
invoice.getStatus().action(inputMessage);
Now the new requirement needs the enum to live inside a common library so it can refer to InvoiceFileService class which will be only local to my project.
I tried different options like HashMaps but the code went ugly and un-maintainable.
Is there a clean way to extend the simple enum (with only values definition) and add to it the abstract function to do stuff? maybe java 8 added some new way to do this.

You could create a wrapper enum.
public enum WrappedInvoiceStatus {
DRAFT(InvoiceStatus.DRAFT, this::someAction),
// other values
private WrappedInvoiceStatus(InvoiceStatus status, Action action) {
this.status = status;
this.action = action;
}
private interface Action { // can be one of Java default functional interfaces as well
void doSomething(InputMessage msg);
}
private void someAction(InputMessage msg) {
// behavior
}
// some plumbing required
}
Basically I’m suggesting using wrapping and lambda expressions or method references. The world of functional programming takes some getting used to. Not everyone is a fan. Your mileage may vary.

As others already said, you can not extend the enum at runtime.
But an enum can implement an interface.
So the basic idea is:
You make an interface with the action as sole abstract method:
public interface InvoiceAction {
void action(InputMessage message);
}
Your enum implements that interface
public enum InvoiceStatus implements InvoiceAction {
// ... no other changes needed
}
In all the cases where you only need to use the actual action, change InvoiceStatus to InvoiceAction. This is the most risky change. Make sure to recompile all code.
Because InvoiceAction only has one abstract method, it's a functional interface, and can be implemented with a lambda expression:
invoice.setStatus(msg -> ...);
This change is probably the most invasive change, but it might be the right thing to do - if you need a different action next time, you won't have the same problem as today.

Enum type is not extendable and implicitly final as specified in JLS:-
An enum declaration is implicitly final unless it contains at least one enum constant that has a class body (§8.9.1).
Hence a class could not extends an enum type. However you could use wrapper or adapter pattern to add additional behaviours/fields of the enum. For example:-
#Service
public class SimpleInvoiceFileService implements InvoiceFileService{
private final InvoiceStatus invoiceStatus;
public SimpleInvoiceFileService(InvoiceStatus status){
invoiceStatus = status;
}
#Override
public void draft(InputMessage input){
this.invoiceStatus.action(input);
}
#Override
public void valid(InputMessage input){
this.invoiceStatus.action(input);
}
// Add more methods to InvoiceFileService interface
// as required and override them here.
}
JLS Reference:-
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se11/html/jls-8.html#jls-8.9

Using an enum in Java to represent keys in a ResourceBundle

I have been tinkering with this idea for a few days, and I was wondering if anyone else has thought of doing this. I would like to try and create a ResourceBundle that I can access the values with by using an enum. The benefits of this approach would be that my keys would be well defined, and hopefully, my IDE can pick up on the types and auto-complete the variable names for me. In other words, I'm after a sort of refined ListResourceBundle.
Essentially, this is what I'm after...
I have an enum that consists of various bundles set up like so:
interface Bundle {
String getBundleName();
EnumResourceBundle<??????> getEnumResourceBundle();
}
enum Bundles implements Bundle {
BUNDLE1("com.example.Bundle1", Keys.class);
private final String bundleName;
private final EnumResouceBundle<??????> bundle;
/**
* I understand here I need to do some cast with ResourceBundle.getBundle(bundleName);
* in order to have it back-track through parents properly. I'm fiddling with this
* right now using either what I specified earlier (saving bundleName and then
* retrieving the ResourceBundle as needed), and saving a reference to the
* ResourceBundle.
*/
private <E extends Enum<E> & Key> Bundles(String bundleName, Class<E> clazz) {
this.bundleName = bundleName;
this.bundle = new EnumResourceBundle<??????>(clazz);
}
#Override
public String getBundleName() {
return bundleName;
}
#Override
public EnumResourceBundle<??????> getEnumResourceBundle() {
return bundle;
}
}
interface Key {
String getValue();
}
enum Keys implements Key {
KEY1("This is a key"),
KEY2("This is another key");
private final String value;
private Keys(String value) {
this.value = value;
}
#Override
public String getKey() {
return value;
}
}
class EnumResourceBundle<E extends Enum<E> & Key> extends ResourceBundle {
// Can also store Object in case we need it
private final EnumMap<E, Object> lookup;
public EnumResourceBundle(Class<E> clazz) {
lookup = new EnumMap<>(clazz);
}
public String getString(E key) {
return (String)lookup.get(key);
}
}
So my overall goal would be to have to code look something like this:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Bundles.CLIENT.getEnumResourceBundle().getString(Keys.KEY1);
Bundles.CLIENT.getEnumResourceBundle().getString(Keys.KEY2);
// or Bundles.CLIENT.getString(Keys.KEY1);
}
I'd also like to provide support for formatting replacements (%s, %d, ...).
I realize that it isn't possible to back-track a type from a class, and that wouldn't help me because I've already instantiated Bundles#bundle, so I was wondering if I could somehow declare EnumResourceBundle, where the generic type is an enum which has implemented the Key interface. Any ideas, help, or thoughts would be appreciated. I would really like to see if I can get it working like this before I resort to named constants.
Update:
I had a thought that maybe I could also try changing EnumResourceBundle#getString(E) to take a Key instead, but this would not guarantee that it's a valid Key specified in the enum, or any enum for that matter. Then again, I'm not sure how that method would work when using a parent enum Key within a child EnumResourceBundle, so maybe Key is a better option.

I've done something like this before but I approached it the other way around and it was pretty simple.
I just created an enum translator class that accepts the enum, and then maps the enum name to the value from the property file.
I used a single resource bundle and then the translate just looked something like (from memory):
<T extends enum>String translate(T e) {
return resources.getString(e.getClass().getName()+"."+e.getName());
}
<T extends enum>String format(T e, Object... params) {
return MessageFormat.format(translate(e), params);
}
Now for any enum you can just add a string to the file:
com.example.MyEnum.FOO = This is a foo
com.example.MyEnum.BAR = Bar this!
If you want to ensure that the passed class is the correct enum for this you could either define a shared interface for those enums or you could make this into a class with the T defined on the class type and then generate instances of it for each enum you want to be able to translate. You could then do things like create a translator class for any enum just by doing new EnumFormatter(). Making format() protected would allow you to give a specific enforceable format for each enum type too by implementing that in the EnumFormatter.
Using the class idea even lets you go one step further and when you create the class you can specify both the enum that it is for and the properties file. It can then immediately scan the properties file and ensure that there is a mapping there for every value in the enum - throwing an exception if one is missing. This will help ensure early detection of any missing values in the properties file.

How to use Java Enums being DRY with only a single parameter different between instantiations?

I'm trying to figure out if there is a clean way of doing this. I want to design an ENUM to maintain a list of constant values for different components in my application. Each enum would have the same configuration and same parameters, but would differ at the very least by component name.
In a normal Java class, I could build all the basic logic/code in a base abstract class, and have each component constants extend the abstract class and populate only its own pertinent information. However, Java enums do not allow extending existing classes.
Is there something I can do to avoid having to either push all my constants in a single Enum (ugggg!) or recreate the same enum class each time for each differing component? Definitely not DRY in that case, but I do not know how to avoid the issue.
For a quick use-case example off the top of my head. Say I want to keep a list of all my request mappings in an Enum for use elsewhere in my application. Fairly easy to design an enum that says:
public enum RequestMapping {
INDEX("index"),
GET_ALL_USERS( "getAllUsers");
private String requestMapping = "/users";
private String path;
RatesURI( String path ){
this.path = path;
}
public String getRequestMapping(){
return requestMapping;
}
public String getPath(){
return path;
}
public String getFullRequestPath(){
return requestMapping + "/" + path;
}
}
It becomes easy to use RequestMapping.GET_ALL_USERS.getFullRequestPath().
Now if I want to create this enum on a per-controller basis, I would have to recreate the entire Enum class and change the "requestMapping" value for each one. Granted, this enum has nearly no code in it, so duplicating it would not be difficult, but the concept still remains. The theoretical "clean" way of doing this would be to have an abstract AbstractRequestMapping type that contained all the methods, including an abstract getRequestMapping() method, and only have the extending Enums implement the controller-specific getReqeuestMapping(). Of course, since Enums cannot be extended, I can't think of a non DRY way of doing this.

Have you considered extending a class that takes Enum as a generic parameter? It is an amazingly flexible mechanism.
public class Entity<E extends Enum<E> & Entity.IE> {
// Set of all possible entries.
// Backed by an EnumSet so we have all the efficiency implied along with a defined order.
private final Set<E> all;
public Entity(Class<E> e) {
// Make a set of them.
this.all = Collections.unmodifiableSet(EnumSet.<E>allOf(e));
}
// Demonstration.
public E[] values() {
// Make a new one every time - like Enum.values.
E[] values = makeTArray(all.size());
int i = 0;
for (E it : all) {
values[i++] = it;
}
return values;
}
// Trick to make a T[] of any length.
// Do not pass any parameter for `dummy`.
// public because this is potentially re-useable.
public static <T> T[] makeTArray(int length, T... dummy) {
return Arrays.copyOf(dummy, length);
}
// Example interface to implement.
public interface IE {
#Override
public String toString();
}
}
class Thing extends Entity<Thing.Stuff> {
public Thing() {
super(Stuff.class);
}
enum Stuff implements Entity.IE {
One,
Two;
}
}
You can pass the nature of your implementation up to the parent class in many different ways - I use enum.class for simplicity.
You can even make the enum implement an interface as you can see.
The values method is for demonstration only. Once you have access to the Set<E> in the parent class you can provide all sorts of functionality just by extending Entity.

I will probably split the responsibilities into two parts:
Logic about how a request is structured, and put that into an immutable class.
Actual configurations of each request, stored in enums
The enum will then store an instance of that class, you can add new methods to the class, without modifying the different enums, as long as the constructor remains the same. Note that the class must be immutable, or your enum will not have a constant value.
You can use it like the:
ServiceRequest.INDEX.getRequest().getFullRequestPath()
With these classes:
public interface RequestType {
Request getRequest();
}
public class Request {
private final String requestMapping;
private final String path;
RatesURI(String requestMapping, String path){
this.requestMappint = requestMapping;
this.path = path;
}
public String getRequestMapping(){
return requestMapping;
}
public String getPath(){
return path;
}
public String getFullRequestPath(){
return requestMapping + "/" + path;
}
}
public enum ServiceRequest implements RequestType {
INDEX("index"),
GET_ALL_USERS( "getAllUsers");
private final Request;
ServiceRequest(String path) {
request = new Request("users/", path)
}
public String getRequest{
return request;
}
}

I think what you should be asking yourself is really why you want to use enums for this. First we can review some of the points that make Java enumerated types what they are.
Specifically
A Java enum is a class that extends java.lang.Enum.
Enum constants are static final instances of that class.
There is some special syntax to use them but that is all they boil down to. Because instantiating new Enum instances is disallowed outside of the special syntax (even with reflection, enum types return zero constructors) the following is also ensured to be true:
They can only be instantiated as static final members of the enclosing class.
The instances are therefore explicitly constant.
As a bonus, they are switchable.
What it really boils down to is what it is about the enums that makes them preferable over a simpler OOP design here. One can easily create a simple RequestMapping class:
/* compacted to save space */
public class RequestMapping {
private final String mapping, path;
public RequestMapping(String mapping, String path) {
this.mapping = mapping; this.path = path;
}
public String getMapping() {
return mapping; }
public String getPath() {
return path; }
public String getFullRequestPath() {
return mapping + "/" + path;
}
}
Which can easily be extended to break down the repeated code:
public class UserMapping extends RequestMapping {
public UserMapping(String path) {
super("/users", path);
}
}
/* where ever appropriate for the constants to appear */
public static final RequestMapping INDEX = new UserMapping("index"),
GET_ALL_USERS = new UserMapping("getAllUsers");
But I assume there is something about enums that is attractive to your design, such as the principle that instances of them are highly controlled. Enums cannot be created all willy-nilly like the above class can be. Perhaps it's important that there be no plausible way for spurious instances to be created. Of course anybody can come by and write in an enum with an invalid path but you can be pretty sure nobody will do it "by accident".
Following the Java "static instances of the outer class" enum design, an access modifier structure can be devised that generally abides by the same rule set as Enum. There are, however, two problems which we can't get around easily.
Two Problems
Protected modifier allows package access.
This can easily be surmounted initially by putting the Enum-analog in its own package. The problem becomes what to do when extending. Classes in the same package of the extended class will be able to access constructors again potentially anywhere.
Working with this depends on how stringent you want to be on creating new instances and, conversely, how clear the design ends up. Can't be a whole mess of scopes just so only a few places can do the wrong thing.
Static members are not polymorphic.
Enum surmounts this by not being extendable. Enum types have a static method values that appears "inherited" because the compiler inserts it for you. Being polymorphic, DRY and having some static features means you need instances of the subtype.
Defeating these two issues depends on how stringent you want your design to be and, conversely, how readable and stable you want your implementation to be. Trying to defy OOP principles will get you a design that's hard to break but totally explodes when you call that one method in a way you aren't supposed to (and can't prevent).
First Solution
This is almost identical to the Java enum model but can be extended:
/* 'M' is for 'Mapping' */
public abstract class ReturnMapping<M extends ReturnMapping> {
/* ridiculously long HashMap typing */
private static final HashMap <Class<? extends ReturnMapping>, List<ReturnMapping>>
VALUES = new HashMap<Class<? extends ReturnMapping>, List<ReturnMapping>>();
private final String mapping, path;
protected Mapping(String mapping, String path) {
this.mapping = mapping;
this.path = path;
List vals = VALUES.get(getClass());
if (vals == null) {
vals = new ArrayList<M>(2);
VALUES.put(getClass(), vals);
}
vals.add(this);
}
/* ~~ field getters here, make them final ~~ */
protected static <M extends ReturnMapping> List<M>(Class<M> rm) {
if (rm == ReturnMapping.class) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException(
"ReturnMapping.class is abstract");
}
List<M> vals = (List<M>)VALUES.get(rm);
if (vals == null) {
vals = new ArrayList<M>(2);
VALUES.put(rm, (List)vals);
}
return Collections.unmodifiableList(vals);
}
}
Now extending it:
public final class UserMapping extends ReturnMapping<UserMapping> {
public static final UserMapping INDEX = new UserMapping("index");
public static final UserMapping GET_ALL_USERS = new UserMapping("getAllUsers");
private UserMapping(String path) {
super("/users", path);
}
public static List<UserMapping> values() {
return values(UserMapping.class);
}
}
The huge static HashMap allows almost all of the values work to be done statically in the superclass. Since static members are not properly inherited this is the closest you can get to maintaining a list of values without doing it in the subclass.
Note there are two problems with the Map. The first is that you can call the values with ReturnMapping.class. The map should not contain that key (the class is abstract and the map is only added to in the constructor) so something needs to be done about it. Instead of throwing an exception you could also insert a "dummy" empty list for that key.
The other problem is that you can call values on the superclass before the instances of the subclass are instantiated. The HashMap will return null if this is done before the subclass is accessed. Static problem!
There is one other major problem with this design because the class can be instantiated externally. If it's a nested class, the outer class has private access. You can also extend it and make the constructor public. That leads to design #2.
Second Solution
In this model the constants are an inner class and the outer class is a factory for retrieving new constants.
/* no more generics--the constants are all the same type */
public abstract class ReturnMapping {
/* still need this HashMap if we want to manage our values in the super */
private static final HashMap <Class<? extends ReturnMapping>, List<Value>>
VALUES = new HashMap<Class<? extends ReturnMapping>, List<Value>>();
public ReturnMapping() {
if (!VALUES.containsKey(getClass())) {
VALUES.put(getClass(), new ArrayList<Value>(2));
}
}
public final List<Value> values() {
return Collections.unmodifiableList(VALUES.get(getClass()));
}
protected final Value newValue(String mapping, String path) {
return new Value(getClass(), mapping, path);
}
public final class Value {
private final String mapping, path;
private Value(
Class type,
String mapping,
String path) {
this.mapping = mapping;
this.path = path;
VALUES.get(type).add(this);
}
/* ~~ final class, field getters need not be ~~ */
}
}
Extending it:
public class UserMapping extends ReturnMapping {
public static final Value INDEX, GET_ALL_USERS;
static {
UserMapping factory = new UserMapping();
INDEX = factory.newValue("/users", "index");
GET_ALL_USERS = factory.newValue("/users", "getAllUsers");
}
}
The factory model is nice because it solves two problems:
Instances can only be created from within the extending class.
Anybody can create a new factory but only the class itself can access the newValue method. The constructor for Value is private so new constants can only be created by using this method.
new UserMapping().values() forces the values to be instantiated before returning them.
No more potential errors in this regard. And the ReturnMapping class is empty and instantiating new objects in Java is fast so I wouldn't worry about overhead. You can also easily create a static field for the list or add static methods such as in solution #1 (though this would deflate the design's uniformity).
There are a couple of downsides:
Can't return the subtyped values List.
Now that the constant values are not extended they are all the same class. Can't dip in to generics to return differently-typed Lists.
Can't easily distinguish what subtype a Value is a constant of.
But it's true this could be programmed in. You could add the owning class as a field. Still shaky.
Sum Of It
Bells and whistles can be added to both of these solutions, for example overriding toString so it returns the name of the instance. Java's enum does that for you but one of the first things I personally do is override this behavior so it returns something more meaningful (and formatted).
Both of these designs provide more encapsulation than a regular abstract class and most importantly are far more flexible than Enum. Trying to use Enum for polymorphism is an OOP square peg in a round hole. Less polymorphism is the price to pay for having enumerated types in Java.

Generic Type From Enum & The Builder Pattern

I'm trying to create a builder pattern that uses generics to provide type checking on some of the methods. Currently I have the following working:
ParameterBuilder.start(String.class).setName("foo").setDefaultValue("Hello").build();
ParameterBuilder.start(Integer.class).setName(bar).setDefaultValue(42).build();
ParameterBuilder.start(Boolean.class).setName(bar).setDefaultValue(false).build();
Using the code:
public class ParameterBuilder<T> {
private String name;
private T defaultValue;
public static <T2> ParameterBuilder<T2> start(Class<T2> type) {
return new ParameterBuilder<T2>();
}
// Other methods excluded for example
}
So the type of the input for the setDefaultValue method is defined by what's passed into the start method, just as I want.
But now I want to extend what's being passed into start() to contain a little more information. Essentially I want to pass in a "type" for the parameters I creating. Sometimes these parameters will be things like "email", "url" etc. The default value will still be of a known type (String in those cases), so I'd like to have something like:
ParameterBuilder.start(EMAIL).setName("email").setDefaultValue("foo#bar.com").build();
ParameterBuilder.start(URL).setName("website").setDefaultValue("http://www.somewhere.com").build();
Where at the moment EMAIL & URL are enums, containing amongst other things - the class of the default value. But if I go down this route, how would I instantiate the parameter builder?
public static <T2> ParameterBuilder<T2> start(ParameterType paramType) {
Class<T2> type = paramType.getTypeClass();
// How do I instantiate my ParameterBuilder with the right type?
}
If it can't be done using enums (which I can see being the case), does anyone have a suggestion for a different solution?

I think you need one enum per class type (I don't see how you could have one enum cover several types and keep the thing working). In that case, a common generic interface could do what you want. You can then create some sort of factory to provide the enum constants if that helps.
This compiles:
static interface ParameterType<T> {}
static enum ParameterTypeEnum implements ParameterType<String> { EMAIL; }
public static void main(String[] args) {
ParameterBuilder
.start(ParameterTypeEnum.EMAIL)
.setName("email")
.setDefaultValue("foo#bar.com")
.build();
}
public static class ParameterBuilder<T> {
private String name;
private T defaultValue;
public static <T2> ParameterBuilder<T2> start(ParameterType<T2> paramType) {
return new ParameterBuilder<T2>();
}
ParameterBuilder<T> setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
return this;
}
ParameterBuilder<T> setDefaultValue(T defaultValue) {
this.defaultValue = defaultValue;
return this;
}
void build() {}
}

I'm not sure the context in what you want to use this, but I think the following might be an option.
You can follow the Open/Closed principle and create an interface Parameter and have one implementation per type. The benefit of this, is that you don't need to add a new enum value for each new Parameter you want. You can later pass the class to ParameterBuilder rather than the enum and the ParameterBuilder and Parameter would work together to build what you need.
So ParameterBuilder.start() could return an instance of the specific Parameter and the parameter might have different methods depending on the type of parameter.
I don't think this answer is really good, but hopefully can give you a hint in how to build a potential solution for your context.

You could create an object hierachie for these Email and Url types
public class DefaultType {
protected String name;
protected String defaultValue;
//some constructor
}
public class EmailType extends DefaultType {
...
}
public class URLType extends DefaultType {
...
}
then the parameter builder could look something like this:
public static ParameterBuilder start(DefaultType type) {
ParameterBuilder builder = new ParameterBuilder(type);
builder.setType(type);
return builder;
}
Then you could call it like this:
ParameterBuilder.start(new EmailType("name","value");...
does this help or dont you want to go in this direction?

Generating Enums Dynamically

Let's say I have a file whose format is basic XML, like so:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<enum-set>
<enum>
<name>SomeEnum</name>
<values>
<value>
<name>SOMEVALUE</name>
<displayText>This is some value</displayText>
</value>
... more values ...
</values>
</enum>
... more enums ...
</enum-set>
and I wanted to turn SomeEnum into something like this at runtime:
public enum SomeEnum implements HasDisplayText {
SOMEVALUE("This is some value"),
... more values ...;
private String displayText;
SomeEnum(String displayText) {
this.displayText = displayText;
}
#Override
public String getDisplayText() {
return displayText;
}
}
... and then pass the newly created enum SomeEnum around my application. How might I achieve something like this? Is it doable?

What you're trying to do doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Enums are really only for the benefit of compile time, as they represent a fixed set of constants. At runtime, what would be the meaning of a dynamically generated enum - how would this be different from an plain object? For example:
public class Salutation implements HasDisplayText {
private String displayText;
private Salutation(String displayText) {
this.displayText = displayText;
}
#Override
public String getDisplayText() {
return displayText;
}
public static Collection<Salutation> loadSalutations(String xml) {
//parse, instantiate, and return Salutations
}
}
Your XML could be parsed into newly instantiated Salutation objects, which could be stored in some Collection or otherwise used by your program. Notice in my example, I've restricted the creation of Salutation by giving it a private constructor - in this case the only way to retrieve instances is by calling the factory method which takes your XML. I believe this achieves the behavior you're looking for.

Actually it is possible to create enum instances dynamically, but it's a total hack, I wouldn't advise it at all - maybe you're misunderstanding the nature of an enum, it's a compile-time feature of the language, and you're not supposed to add/remove instances from it at runtime.
Anyway, if you're interested in the hack for creating enum instances dynamically, take a look at this article.

Dynamic Enums is the answer to your problem:
public abstract class DEnum<E extends DEnum<E>> implements Comparable<E>, Serializable {
This class has a signature similar to the standard Enum class. It has a protected constructor to allow instance creation in concrete Enum classes. For example:
public class YesNo extends DEnum<YesNo> {
public final static YesNo YES = new YesNo();
public final static YesNo NO = new YesNo();
The DEnum class knows the names of the members by introspection:
String name = YesNo.YES.getName();
YesNo yes = YesNo.get(YesNo.class, name);
assert (yes == YesNo.YES);
There is a typed getter that retrieves all the items:
YesNo[] items = yes.getItems();
assert (items.length == 2);
It allows to add members dynamically at run time with (from database or from file):
YesNo maybe = getOrCreateIfNotExists(YesNo.class, "MAYBE");
items = yes.getItems();
assert (items.length == 3);
Which have the same behavior as the static members:
YesNo unknown = YesNo.get(YesNo.class, "MAYBE");
assert (unknown == maybe);

Agree with Oscar Lopez. Here is what i did, a sort of hack.
public static enum Setter {
DYNAMIC_ENUM_EXAMPLE {
#Override
public String setGetValue(String yourValue) {
return "prefix " + yourValue + " postfix";
}
};
public abstract String setGetValue(String value);
}
You can get the value like this :
Setter.DYNAMIC_ENUM_EXAMPLE.setGetValue("namaste")
Output :
prefix namaste postfix