Is there a simple way to convert C++ enum to string?

Asked 2008-10-14T15:14:04.813

140

Suppose we have some named enums:

enum MyEnum {
      FOO,
      BAR = 0x50
};

What I googled for is a script (any language) that scans all the headers in my project and generates a header with one function per enum.

char* enum_to_string(MyEnum t);

And a implementation with something like this:

char* enum_to_string(MyEnum t){
      switch(t){
         case FOO:
            return "FOO";
         case BAR:
            return "BAR";
         default:
            return "INVALID ENUM";
      }
 }

The gotcha is really with typedefed enums, and unnamed C style enums. Does anybody know something for this?

EDIT: The solution should not modify my source, except for the generated functions. The enums are in an API, so using the solutions proposed until now is just not an option.

Edit Report

3 Answers

I just re-invented this wheel today, and thought I'd share it.

This implementation does not require any changes to the code that defines the constants, which can be enumerations or #defines or anything else that devolves to an integer - in my case I had symbols defined in terms of other symbols. It also works well with sparse values. It even allows multiple names for the same value, returning the first one always. The only downside is that it requires you to make a table of the constants, which might become out-of-date as new ones are added for example.

struct IdAndName
{
   int          id;
   const char * name;
   bool operator<(const IdAndName &rhs) const { return id < rhs.id; }
};
#define ID_AND_NAME(x) { x, #x }

const char * IdToName(int id, IdAndName *table_begin, IdAndName *table_end)
{
   if ((table_end - table_begin) > 1 && table_begin[0].id > table_begin[1].id)
      std::stable_sort(table_begin, table_end);

   IdAndName searchee = { id, NULL };
   IdAndName *p = std::lower_bound(table_begin, table_end, searchee);
   return (p == table_end || p->id != id) ? NULL : p->name;
}

template<int N>
const char * IdToName(int id, IdAndName (&table)[N])
{
   return IdToName(id, &table[0], &table[N]);
}

An example of how you'd use it:

static IdAndName WindowsErrorTable[] =
{
   ID_AND_NAME(INT_MAX),               // flag value to indicate unsorted table
   ID_AND_NAME(NO_ERROR),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_INVALID_FUNCTION),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_TOO_MANY_OPEN_FILES),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_ARENA_TRASHED),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_INVALID_BLOCK),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_BAD_ENVIRONMENT),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_BAD_FORMAT),
   ID_AND_NAME(ERROR_INVALID_ACCESS),
   ID_


                        
                        
                            answered 2012-07-20T19:50:25.193


            
            
                
                    
                        
                            
                            
                        
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                        Interesting to see the number of ways. here's one i used a long time ago: 

in file myenummap.h:

#include <map>
#include <string>
enum test{ one, two, three, five=5, six, seven };
struct mymap : std::map<unsigned int, std::string>
{
  mymap()
  {
    this->operator[]( one ) = "ONE";
    this->operator[]( two ) = "TWO";
    this->operator[]( three ) = "THREE";
    this->operator[]( five ) = "FIVE";
    this->operator[]( six ) = "SIX";
    this->operator[]( seven ) = "SEVEN";
  };
  ~mymap(){};
};


in main.cpp

#include "myenummap.h"

...
mymap nummap;
std::cout<< nummap[ one ] << std::endl;


Its not const, but its convenient.

Here's another way that uses C++11 features. This is const, doesn't inherit an STL container and is a little tidier:

#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>

//These stay together and must be modified together
enum test{ one, two, three, five=5, six, seven };
std::string enum_to_str(test const& e)
{
    typedef std::pair<int,std::string> mapping;
    auto m = [](test const& e,std::string const& s){return mapping(static_cast<int>(e),s);}; 
    std::vector<mapping> const nummap = 
    { 
        m(one,"one"), 
        m(two,"two"), 
        m(three,"three"),
        m(five,"five"),
        m(six,"six"),
        m(seven,"seven"),
    };
    for(auto i  : nummap)
    {
        if(i.first==static_cast<int>(e))
        {
            return i.second;
        }
    }
    return "";
}

int main()
{
//  std::cout<< enum_to_str( 46 ) << std::endl; //compilation will fail
    std::cout<< "Invalid enum to string : [" << enum_to_str( test(46) ) << "]"<<std::endl; //returns an empty string
    std::cout<< "Enumval five to string : ["<< enum_to_str( five ) << "] "<&

                        
                        
                            answered 2009-06-23T01:45:40.893
                            
                        
                        
                            
                                
                                
                            
                        
                        
                            
                            
                            
                                
                                
                            
                            
                        
                    

                

            

            
            
                
                    
                        
                            
                            
                        
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                        It's unreleased software but it seems BOOST_ENUM from Frank Laub could fit the bill. The part I like about it is that you can define an enum within the scope of a class which most of the Macro based enums usually don't let you do. It is located in the Boost Vault at: http://www.boostpro.com/vault/index.php?action=downloadfile&filename=enum_rev4.6.zip&directory=&
It hasn't seen any development since 2006 so I don't know how well it compiles with the new Boost releases.
Look under libs/test for an example of usage.

                        
                        
                            answered 2009-11-04T16:22:03.577



        
        
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