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How to use enums as flags in C++?

Asked 2009-09-19T11:46:04.153
265

Treating enums as flags works nicely in C# via the [Flags] attribute, but what's the best way to do this in C++?

For example, I'd like to write:

enum AnimalFlags
{
    HasClaws = 1,
    CanFly =2,
    EatsFish = 4,
    Endangered = 8
};

seahawk.flags = CanFly | EatsFish | Endangered;

However, I get compiler errors regarding int/enum conversions. Is there a nicer way to express this than just blunt casting? Preferably, I don't want to rely on constructs from 3rd party libraries such as boost or Qt.

EDIT: As indicated in the answers, I can avoid the compiler error by declaring seahawk.flags as int. However, I'd like to have some mechanism to enforce type safety, so someone can't write seahawk.flags = HasMaximizeButton.

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21

Easiest way to do this as shown here, using the standard library class bitset.

To emulate the C# feature in a type-safe way, you'd have to write a template wrapper around the bitset, replacing the int arguments with an enum given as a type parameter to the template. Something like:

    template <class T, int N>
class FlagSet
{

    bitset<N> bits;

    FlagSet(T enumVal)
    {
        bits.set(enumVal);
    }

    // etc.
};

enum MyFlags
{
    FLAG_ONE,
    FLAG_TWO
};

FlagSet<MyFlags, 2> myFlag;
answered 2009-09-19T12:40:44.693

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