How can I use an enum class in a boolean context?

Question

I have some generic code that works with flags specified using C++11 enum class types. At one step, I\'d like to know if any of the bits in the flag are set. Cu

Answer 1

I usually overload the unary + operator for flag-like enum classes, so that i can do the following:

#define ENUM_FLAGS (FlagType, UnderlyingType)                           \
    /* ... */                                                           \
    UnderlyingType operator+(const FlagType &flags) {                   \
          return static_cast(flags)                     \
    }                                                                   \
    /* ... */                                                           \
    FlagType operator&(const FlagType &lhs, const FlagType &rhs) {      \
          return static_cast(+lhs & +rhs)                     \
    }                                                                   \
    /* ... */                                                           \
    FlagType &operator|=(FlagType &lhs, const FlagType &rhs) {          \
          return lhs = static_cast(+lhs | +rhs)               \
    }                                                                   \
    /* ... */                                                           \
    /***/

// ....

enum class Flags: std::uint16_t {
    NoFlag  = 0x0000,
    OneFlag = 0x0001,
    TwoFlag = 0x0002,
    // ....      
    LastFlag = 0x8000
};

ENUM_FLAGS(Flags, std::uint16_t)

auto flagVar = Flags::NoFlag;

// ...

flagVar |= Flags::OneFlag;

// ...

if (+(flagVar & Flags::OneFlag)) {
    /// ...
}