Is there a simple way to convert C++ enum to strin

Question

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.

Answer 1

Here is a CLI program I wrote to easily convert enums to strings. Its easy to use, and takes about 5 seconds to get it done (including the time to cd to the directory containing the program, then run it, passing to it the file containing the enum).

Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/?nttignoozzz

Discussion topic on it here: http://cboard.cprogramming.com/projects-job-recruitment/127488-free-program-im-sharing-convertenumtostrings.html

Run the program with the "--help" argument to get a description how to use it.

Answer 2

This can be done in C++11

#include <map>
enum MyEnum { AA, BB, CC, DD };

static std::map< MyEnum, const char * > info = {
   {AA, "This is an apple"},
   {BB, "This is a book"},
   {CC, "This is a coffee"},
   {DD, "This is a door"}
};

void main()
{
    std::cout << info[AA] << endl
              << info[BB] << endl
              << info[CC] << endl
              << info[DD] << endl;
}

Answer 3

I want to post this in case someone finds it useful.

In my case, I simply need to generate ToString() and FromString() functions for a single C++11 enum from a single .hpp file.

I wrote a python script that parses the header file containing the enum items and generates the functions in a new .cpp file.

You can add this script in CMakeLists.txt with execute_process, or as a pre-build event in Visual Studio. The .cpp file will be automatically generated, without the need to manually update it each time a new enum item is added.

generate_enum_strings.py

# This script is used to generate strings from C++ enums

import re
import sys
import os

fileName = sys.argv[1]
enumName = os.path.basename(os.path.splitext(fileName)[0])

with open(fileName, 'r') as f:
    content = f.read().replace('\n', '')

searchResult = re.search('enum(.*)\{(.*?)\};', content)
tokens = searchResult.group(2)
tokens = tokens.split(',')
tokens = map(str.strip, tokens)
tokens = map(lambda token: re.search('([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)', token).group(1), tokens)

textOut = ''
textOut += '\n#include "' + enumName + '.hpp"\n\n'
textOut += 'namespace myns\n'
textOut += '{\n'
textOut += '    std::string ToString(ErrorCode errorCode)\n'
textOut += '    {\n'
textOut += '        switch (errorCode)\n'
textOut += '        {\n'

for token in tokens:
    textOut += '        case ' + enumName + '::' + token + ':\n'
    textOut += '            return "' + token + '";\n'

textOut += '        default:\n'
textOut += '            return "Last";\n'
textOut += '        }\n'
textOut += '    }\n'
textOut += '\n'
textOut += '    ' + enumName + ' FromString(const std::string &errorCode)\n'
textOut += '    {\n'
textOut += '        if ("' + tokens[0] + '" == errorCode)\n'
textOut += '        {\n'
textOut += '            return ' + enumName + '::' + tokens[0] + ';\n'
textOut += '        }\n'

for token in tokens[1:]:
    textOut += '        else if("' + token + '" == errorCode)\n'
    textOut += '        {\n'
    textOut += '            return ' + enumName + '::' + token + ';\n'
    textOut += '        }\n'

textOut += '\n'
textOut += '        return ' + enumName + '::Last;\n'
textOut += '    }\n'
textOut += '}\n'

fileOut = open(enumName + '.cpp', 'w')
fileOut.write(textOut)

Example:

ErrorCode.hpp

#pragma once

#include <string>
#include <cstdint>

namespace myns
{
    enum class ErrorCode : uint32_t
    {
        OK = 0,
        OutOfSpace,
        ConnectionFailure,
        InvalidJson,
        DatabaseFailure,
        HttpError,
        FileSystemError,
        FailedToEncrypt,
        FailedToDecrypt,
        EndOfFile,
        FailedToOpenFileForRead,
        FailedToOpenFileForWrite,
        FailedToLaunchProcess,

        Last
    };

    std::string ToString(ErrorCode errorCode);
    ErrorCode FromString(const std::string &errorCode);
}

Run python generate_enum_strings.py ErrorCode.hpp

Result:

ErrorCode.cpp

#include "ErrorCode.hpp"

namespace myns
{
    std::string ToString(ErrorCode errorCode)
    {
        switch (errorCode)
        {
        case ErrorCode::OK:
            return "OK";
        case ErrorCode::OutOfSpace:
            return "OutOfSpace";
        case ErrorCode::ConnectionFailure:
            return "ConnectionFailure";
        case ErrorCode::InvalidJson:
            return "InvalidJson";
        case ErrorCode::DatabaseFailure:
            return "DatabaseFailure";
        case ErrorCode::HttpError:
            return "HttpError";
        case ErrorCode::FileSystemError:
            return "FileSystemError";
        case ErrorCode::FailedToEncrypt:
            return "FailedToEncrypt";
        case ErrorCode::FailedToDecrypt:
            return "FailedToDecrypt";
        case ErrorCode::EndOfFile:
            return "EndOfFile";
        case ErrorCode::FailedToOpenFileForRead:
            return "FailedToOpenFileForRead";
        case ErrorCode::FailedToOpenFileForWrite:
            return "FailedToOpenFileForWrite";
        case ErrorCode::FailedToLaunchProcess:
            return "FailedToLaunchProcess";
        case ErrorCode::Last:
            return "Last";
        default:
            return "Last";
        }
    }

    ErrorCode FromString(const std::string &errorCode)
    {
        if ("OK" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::OK;
        }
        else if("OutOfSpace" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::OutOfSpace;
        }
        else if("ConnectionFailure" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::ConnectionFailure;
        }
        else if("InvalidJson" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::InvalidJson;
        }
        else if("DatabaseFailure" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::DatabaseFailure;
        }
        else if("HttpError" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::HttpError;
        }
        else if("FileSystemError" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::FileSystemError;
        }
        else if("FailedToEncrypt" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::FailedToEncrypt;
        }
        else if("FailedToDecrypt" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::FailedToDecrypt;
        }
        else if("EndOfFile" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::EndOfFile;
        }
        else if("FailedToOpenFileForRead" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::FailedToOpenFileForRead;
        }
        else if("FailedToOpenFileForWrite" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::FailedToOpenFileForWrite;
        }
        else if("FailedToLaunchProcess" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::FailedToLaunchProcess;
        }
        else if("Last" == errorCode)
        {
            return ErrorCode::Last;
        }

        return ErrorCode::Last;
    }
}

Answer 4

You may want to check out GCCXML.

Running GCCXML on your sample code produces:

<GCC_XML>
  <Namespace id="_1" name="::" members="_3 " mangled="_Z2::"/>
  <Namespace id="_2" name="std" context="_1" members="" mangled="_Z3std"/>
  <Enumeration id="_3" name="MyEnum" context="_1" location="f0:1" file="f0" line="1">
    <EnumValue name="FOO" init="0"/>
    <EnumValue name="BAR" init="80"/>
  </Enumeration>
  <File id="f0" name="my_enum.h"/>
</GCC_XML>

You could use any language you prefer to pull out the Enumeration and EnumValue tags and generate your desired code.

Answer 5

#define stringify( name ) # name

enum MyEnum {
    ENUMVAL1
};
...stuff...

stringify(EnumName::ENUMVAL1);  // Returns MyEnum::ENUMVAL1

Further discussion on this method

Preprocessor directive tricks for newcomers

Answer 6

Here is an attempt to get << and >> stream operators on enum automatically with an one line macro command only...

Definitions:

#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>
#include <sstream>
#include <vector>

#define MAKE_STRING(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING1_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING1_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING2_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING2_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING3_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING3_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING4_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING4_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING5_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING5_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING6_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING6_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING7_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING7_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING8_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING8_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING9_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING9_(str, ...) #str, MAKE_STRING10_(__VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_STRING10_(str) #str

#define MAKE_ENUM(name, ...) MAKE_ENUM_(, name, __VA_ARGS__)
#define MAKE_CLASS_ENUM(name, ...) MAKE_ENUM_(friend, name, __VA_ARGS__)

#define MAKE_ENUM_(attribute, name, ...) name { __VA_ARGS__ }; \
    attribute std::istream& operator>>(std::istream& is, name& e) { \
        const char* name##Str[] = { MAKE_STRING(__VA_ARGS__) }; \
        std::string str; \
        std::istream& r = is >> str; \
        const size_t len = sizeof(name##Str)/sizeof(name##Str[0]); \
        const std::vector<std::string> enumStr(name##Str, name##Str + len); \
        const std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator it = std::find(enumStr.begin(), enumStr.end(), str); \
        if (it != enumStr.end())\
            e = name(it - enumStr.begin()); \
        else \
            throw std::runtime_error("Value \"" + str + "\" is not part of enum "#name); \
        return r; \
    }; \
    attribute std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const name& e) { \
        const char* name##Str[] = { MAKE_STRING(__VA_ARGS__) }; \
        return (os << name##Str[e]); \
    }

Usage:

// Declare global enum
enum MAKE_ENUM(Test3, Item13, Item23, Item33, Itdsdgem43);

class Essai {
public:
    // Declare enum inside class
    enum MAKE_CLASS_ENUM(Test, Item1, Item2, Item3, Itdsdgem4);

};

int main() {
    std::cout << Essai::Item1 << std::endl;

    Essai::Test ffffd = Essai::Item1;
    std::cout << ffffd << std::endl;

    std::istringstream strm("Item2");
    strm >> ffffd;

    std::cout << (int) ffffd << std::endl;
    std::cout << ffffd << std::endl;
}

Not sure about the limitations of this scheme though... comments are welcome!