Java tutorial
import java.util.EnumSet; public class Main { static enum Choices { a1, a2, b1, b2 } public static <E extends Enum<E>> boolean contains(Class<E> _enumClass, String value) { try { return EnumSet.allOf(_enumClass).contains(Enum.valueOf(_enumClass, value)); } catch (Exception e) { return false; } } public static void main(String[] args) { for (String value : new String[] { "a1", "a3", null }) { System.out.println(contains(Choices.class, value)); } } }