--- a/test/test_status.py	Thu Mar 15 13:00:01 2007 +0100
+++ b/test/test_status.py	Thu Mar 15 21:03:44 2007 +0100
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import unittest
 from datetime import datetime
 
-from treepkg.status import RevisionStatus
+from treepkg.status import RevisionStatus, Status, EnumFieldDesc
 from treepkg.util import ensure_directory, writefile
 
 
@@ -62,3 +62,18 @@
         writefile(self.filename,
                   "Some other magic\nstart: 2007-03-09 17:32:55\n")
         self.assertRaises(ValueError, RevisionStatus, self.filename)
+
+    def test_status_enum(self):
+
+        class TestStatus(Status):
+            status = EnumFieldDesc()
+            status.add("not_running", "Process is not running",
+                       default=True)
+            status.add("running", "Process is running")
+            status.add("error", "An error occurred")
+
+        status = TestStatus(self.filename)
+        status.running()
+
+        otherstatus = TestStatus(self.filename)
+        self.assertEquals(otherstatus.status.name, "running")

--- a/treepkg/status.py	Thu Mar 15 13:00:01 2007 +0100
+++ b/treepkg/status.py	Thu Mar 15 21:03:44 2007 +0100
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
     def has_default(self):
         return self.default is not nodefault
 
+    def set_default(self, value):
+        self.default = value
+
     def serialize(self, value):
         raise NotImplementedError
 
@@ -51,16 +54,60 @@
         return datetime.datetime(*time.strptime(string.strip(),
                                                 self.date_format)[:6])
 
+
+class EnumValue(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, name, description, finished=False, error=False):
+        self.name = name
+        self.description = description
+        self.finished = finished
+        self.error = error
+
+
+class EnumFieldDesc(FieldDesc):
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
+        super(EnumFieldDesc, self).__init__(*args, **kw)
+        self.values = {}
+
+    def add(self, name, description, default=False, **kw):
+        enum = EnumValue(name, description, **kw)
+        self.values[enum.name] = enum
+        if default:
+            self.set_default(enum)
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return self.values.itervalues()
+
+    def serialize(self, value):
+        assert value.name is not None
+        return value.name
+
+    def deserialize(self, string):
+        return self.values[string.strip()]
+
+
+def make_setter(fieldname, enum):
+    def setter(self):
+        setattr(self, fieldname, enum)
+    setter.__name__ = enum.name
+    return setter
+
+
 class StatusMetaClass(type):
 
     def __new__(cls, name, bases, clsdict):
         # Generate the _fields class variable from the field descriptors
-        # in clsdict.
+        # in clsdict and remove the descriptors themselves.  Also, add
+        # one setter method for each enum.
         fields = dict()
         for key, value in clsdict.items():
             if isinstance(value, FieldDesc):
                 fields[key] = value
                 del clsdict[key]
+            if isinstance(value, EnumFieldDesc):
+                for enum in value:
+                    clsdict[enum.name] = make_setter(key, enum)
         clsdict["_fields"] = fields
         return type.__new__(cls, name, bases, clsdict)