If they are just "constants", then what "config object" do you need for the constructors?

Can you have the constructor just take a string arg, and then call it for each instance in the declaration? (e.g.

public class ViewMode {
  private final String name;
  private ViewMode(String name)
      {this.name = name; }

  public String toString()
      {return name; }

  public static final ViewMode TEXT = new ViewMode('text');
  public static final ViewMode DETAILS = new ViewMode('details');

  ......
}

In Josh Bloch's maximally cool book "Effective Java" (ISBN 0-201-31005-8, Sun Java Series, Addison Wesley), on p. 105 under "Item 21: Replace enum constructs with classes" he does recommend what you are doing, and gives an example (he calls it the "typesafe enum pattern".

Consider the following:


1. private non-static member variables

2. public accessor methods (getter methods) to return members

3. public constructor with config passed into it, sets values for the member variables using the config

4. Usage: make object passing the config, use getters to get the member variable values