# PHP Enums tryFrom Method

I was recently working on a project where I was receiving data from an API that had a `payment_type`. I converted the `payment_type` into the enum below:

```php
enum PaymentType: string 
{
	case CREDIT_CARD = 'credit_card';
	case APPLE_PAY = 'apple_pay';
	case GOOGLE_PAY = 'google_pay';
	case PAYPAL = 'paypal';
	case SHOP_PAY = 'shop_pay';
}
```

Then, I use this enum in the data transfer object (DTO) to define the structure of the data I receive from the API.

However, the problem I was running into is the `payment_type` is not always in the response of the API data, so it could be `null`. In my DTO, I have a `from` method to build the object from the API response which looks like the following:

```php
class OrderDto
{
	...
	public static function from(array $data): self {
		return new self(
			...
			payment_method: isset($data['payment_method']) ? PaymentType::from($data['payment_method']) : null,
		);
	}
}
```

I had to check if the `payment_method` is set too, because otherwise, a `ValueError` exception will be thrown.

This is where the `tryFrom` method comes in handy. If `payment_method` is `null` or is not a valid case for the enum, it will just return `null` without throwing an exception. So now, the DTO can be updated to the following which is much cleaner:

```php
class OrderDto
{
	...
	public static function from(array $data): self {
		return new self(
			...
			payment_method: PaymentType::tryFrom($data['payment_method']),
		);
	}
}
```

Please note that this only works for [backed enums](https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.backedenum.php) in PHP 8.1+. In case you’re not familiar, a `BackedEnum` is one where each case has a value specified. So in the example above, the enum is a string-backed enum since it is defined with `enum PaymentType: string`.

This would not work for a standard PHP enum like the one below:

```php
// Not a backed enum so does not include from and tryFrom methods.
enum PaymentType 
{
	case CREDIT_CARD;
	case APPLE_PAY;
	case GOOGLE_PAY;
	case PAYPAL;
	case SHOP_PAY;
}
```

If you found this tip helpful, I also have a similar one with the Carbon PHP make method. You can read that [here](https://seankegel.com/carbon-php-quick-tip?showSharer=true).