Better way to say x == Foo::A || x == Foo::B || x == Foo::C || …?

Question

Let\'s say I have a bunch of well-known values, like this (but const char * is just an example, it could be more complicated):

const char *A = \"A\"         


        

Answer 1

You could factor your current best solution into a template:

template<class A, class B, size_t n>
inline bool is_in(const A &a, B (&bs)[n]) {
  return std::find(bs, bs + n, a) != bs + n;
}

which you can use like

X items[] = { A, C, E, G };
if (is_in(some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type, items))
  …

Answer 2

If not switch, maybe something like this, I didn't use it, but may be a draft to something working?

template <class ReturnType>
bool average(ReturnType expression, int count, ...)
{
  va_list ap;
  va_start(ap, count); //Requires the last fixed parameter (to get the address)
  for(int j=0; j<count; j++)
    if(expression==va_arg(ap, ReturnType))
      return true;
    return false
  va_end(ap);
}

Answer 3

If you have C++11:

auto res = some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type;
if (res == A
    || res == C
    || res == E
    || res == G) {
}

if not, you can still eliminate the type declaration by using a template function:

template <class T>
bool matches(T t) {
    return t == A || t == C || t == E || t == G;
}

if (matches(some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type)) {
}

Answer 4

Expressions of the type

if (some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type == A ||
    some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type == C ||
    some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type == E ||
    some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type == G)
{
    ...
}

are quite common in code (well, a pre-computed expression is anyway). I think the best you can do for readability is pre-compute the expression and keep it as is.

ugly_return_type x = some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type;
if (x == A ||
    x == C ||
    x == E ||
    x == G)
{
    ...
}

Developers are used to this type of syntax. This makes it a whole lot easier to understand when someone else is reading your code

It also expresses what you want perfectly. There's a reason this type of syntax is so widely used in existing code - because other alternatives are worse for readability.

Of course, you could wrap the condition in a function, but only if it's reusable and it logically makes sense (besides the point IMO).

Answer 5

C++11:

template<typename T1, typename T2>
bool equalsOneOf (T1&& value, T2&& candidate) {
   return std::forward<T1>(value) == std::forward<T2>(candidate);
}

template<typename T1, typename T2, typename ...T>
bool equalsOneOf (T1&& value, T2&& firstCandidate, T&&...otherCandidates) {
   return (std::forward<T1>(value) == std::forward<T2>(firstCandidate))
     || equalsOneOf (std::forward<T1> (value), std::forward<T>(otherCandidates)...);
}

if (equalsOneOf (complexExpression, A, D, E)) { ... }

C++03:

template<typename T, typename C>
bool equalsOneOf (const T& value, const C& c) { return value == c; }

template<typename T, typename C1, typename C2>
bool equalsOneOf (const T& value, const C1& c1, const C2& c2) {
    return (value == c2) || equalsOneOf (value, c1);
}

template<typename T, typename C1, typename C2, typename C3>
bool equalsOneOf (const T& value, const C1& c1, const C2& c2, const C3& c3) {
    return (value == c3) || equalsOneOf (value, c1, c2);
}

template<typename T, typename C1, typename C2, typename C3, typename C4>
bool equalsOneOf (const T& value, const C1& c1, const C2& c2, const C3& c3, const C4& c4) {
    return (value == c4) || equalsOneOf (value, c1, c2, c3);
}

template<typename T, typename C1, typename C2, typename C3, typename C4, typename C5>
bool equalsOneOf (const T& value, const C1& c1, const C2& c2, const C3& c3, const C4& c4, const C5& c5) {
    return (value == c5) || equalsOneOf (value, c1, c2, c3, c4);
}

// and so on, as many as you need

Answer 6

You could use a switch:

switch (some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type) {
  case A: case C: case E: case G:
    // do something
  default:
    // no-op
}

This only works with integer and enum types, note.

For more complex types, you can use C++11's auto, or for C++03, boost's BOOST_AUTO:

auto tmp = some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type;
// or
BOOST_AUTO(tmp, some_complicated_expression_with_ugly_return_type);

if (tmp == A || tmp == C || tmp == E || tmp == G) {
  // ...
}