Macros for declaring enums in C++ that include to_string conversion and looping through all enum values
Sometimes, you find the need of converting enum values to strings mostly for debugging/logging purposes. This can easily be achieved by maintaining a map that maps the enum values to strings. Doing this manually however is a source for errors since one might forget to update it when enum values are added, or just make a mistake when copy-pasting. I am also a fan of reducing boilerplating. These factors made me create this header file.
- Automatic generation of to_string functions for converting enum values to string representations
- Provides a way to loop through all values of an enum
- Supports both enums and enum classes
- Self contained header file
Smart enums are very easy to use. The code below shows it all.
#include "smartenum.hpp"
//declares a normal enum 'Day'
smart_enum(Day, MONDAY, TUESDAY, THURSDAY = 4, FRIDAY);
//declares an enum class 'Dish'. Newline works as expected
smart_enum_class(Dish, PANCAKE,
OMELETTE = 2,
WAFFLES = 42);
int main()
{
//with normal enums, the to_string function is prepended with <ENUM_NAME>_ to avoid collisions
std::cout << Day_to_string(MONDAY) << " " << Day_to_string(TUESDAY) << " " << Day_to_string(THURSDAY) << " " << Day_to_string(FRIDAY) << "\n";
//with enum classes, the to_string function is used as is
std::cout << to_string(Dish::PANCAKE) << " " << to_string(Dish::OMELETTE) << " " << to_string(Dish::WAFFLES) << "\n";
//enum classes also support ostream conversion directly
std::cout << Dish::PANCAKE << " " << Dish::OMELETTE << " " << Dish::WAFFLES << "\n\n";
//The macros define a way to access the enum values as a list (std::vector)
std::cout << "The days of the week are:\n";
for(Day day : Day_list)
{
std::cout << Day_to_string(day) << " ";
}
std::cout << "\n\n";
std::cout << "The dishes we have are:\n";
for(Dish dish : Dish_list)
{
std::cout << to_string(dish) << " ";
}
std::cout << "\n\n";
}The above code prints:
MONDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
PANCAKE OMELETTE WAFFLES
PANCAKE OMELETTE WAFFLES
The days of the week are:
MONDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
The dishes we have are:
PANCAKE OMELETTE WAFFLES
Any suggestions on how to improve the existing codes or features to add are welcome!