enum to string in modern C++11 / C++14 / C++17 and future C++20

Question

Contrary to all other similar questions, this question is about using the new C++ features.

• 2008 c Is there a simple way to convert C++ enum to string?
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Answer 1

This is similar to Yuri Finkelstein; but does not required boost. I am using a map so you can assign any value to the enums, any order.

Declaration of enum class as:

DECLARE_ENUM_WITH_TYPE(TestEnumClass, int32_t, ZERO = 0x00, TWO = 0x02, ONE = 0x01, THREE = 0x03, FOUR);

The following code will automatically create the enum class and overload:

• '+' '+=' for std::string
• '<<' for streams
• '~' just to convert to string (Any unary operator will do, but I personally don't like it for clarity)
• '*' to get the count of enums

No boost required, all required functions provided.

Code:

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

#define STRING_REMOVE_CHAR(str, ch) str.erase(std::remove(str.begin(), str.end(), ch), str.end())

std::vector<std::string> splitString(std::string str, char sep = ',') {
    std::vector<std::string> vecString;
    std::string item;

    std::stringstream stringStream(str);

    while (std::getline(stringStream, item, sep))
    {
        vecString.push_back(item);
    }

    return vecString;
}

#define DECLARE_ENUM_WITH_TYPE(E, T, ...)                                                                     \
    enum class E : T                                                                                          \
    {                                                                                                         \
        __VA_ARGS__                                                                                           \
    };                                                                                                        \
    std::map<T, std::string> E##MapName(generateEnumMap<T>(#__VA_ARGS__));                                    \
    std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, E enumTmp)                                                     \
    {                                                                                                         \
        os << E##MapName[static_cast<T>(enumTmp)];                                                            \
        return os;                                                                                            \
    }                                                                                                         \
    size_t operator*(E enumTmp) { (void) enumTmp; return E##MapName.size(); }                                 \
    std::string operator~(E enumTmp) { return E##MapName[static_cast<T>(enumTmp)]; }                          \
    std::string operator+(std::string &&str, E enumTmp) { return str + E##MapName[static_cast<T>(enumTmp)]; } \
    std::string operator+(E enumTmp, std::string &&str) { return E##MapName[static_cast<T>(enumTmp)] + str; } \
    std::string &operator+=(std::string &str, E enumTmp)                                                      \
    {                                                                                                         \
        str += E##MapName[static_cast<T>(enumTmp)];                                                           \
        return str;                                                                                           \
    }                                                                                                         \
    E operator++(E &enumTmp)                                                                                  \
    {                                                                                                         \
        auto iter = E##MapName.find(static_cast<T>(enumTmp));                                                 \
        if (iter == E##MapName.end() || std::next(iter) == E##MapName.end())                                  \
            iter = E##MapName.begin();                                                                        \
        else                                                                                                  \
        {                                                                                                     \
            ++iter;                                                                                           \
        }                                                                                                     \
        enumTmp = static_cast<E>(iter->first);                                                                \
        return enumTmp;                                                                                       \
    }                                                                                                         \
    bool valid##E(T value) { return (E##MapName.find(value) != E##MapName.end()); }

#define DECLARE_ENUM(E, ...) DECLARE_ENUM_WITH_TYPE(E, int32_t, __VA_ARGS__)
template <typename T>
std::map<T, std::string> generateEnumMap(std::string strMap)
{
    STRING_REMOVE_CHAR(strMap, ' ');
    STRING_REMOVE_CHAR(strMap, '(');

    std::vector<std::string> enumTokens(splitString(strMap));
    std::map<T, std::string> retMap;
    T inxMap;

    inxMap = 0;
    for (auto iter = enumTokens.begin(); iter != enumTokens.end(); ++iter)
    {
        // Token: [EnumName | EnumName=EnumValue]
        std::string enumName;
        T enumValue;
        if (iter->find('=') == std::string::npos)
        {
            enumName = *iter;
        }
        else
        {
            std::vector<std::string> enumNameValue(splitString(*iter, '='));
            enumName = enumNameValue[0];
            //inxMap = static_cast<T>(enumNameValue[1]);
            if (std::is_unsigned<T>::value)
            {
                inxMap = static_cast<T>(std::stoull(enumNameValue[1], 0, 0));
            }
            else
            {
                inxMap = static_cast<T>(std::stoll(enumNameValue[1], 0, 0));
            }
        }
        retMap[inxMap++] = enumName;
    }

    return retMap;
}

Example:

DECLARE_ENUM_WITH_TYPE(TestEnumClass, int32_t, ZERO = 0x00, TWO = 0x02, ONE = 0x01, THREE = 0x03, FOUR);

int main(void) {
    TestEnumClass first, second;
    first = TestEnumClass::FOUR;
    second = TestEnumClass::TWO;

    std::cout << first << "(" << static_cast<uint32_t>(first) << ")" << std::endl; // FOUR(4)

    std::string strOne;
    strOne = ~first;
    std::cout << strOne << std::endl; // FOUR

    std::string strTwo;
    strTwo = ("Enum-" + second) + (TestEnumClass::THREE + "-test");
    std::cout << strTwo << std::endl; // Enum-TWOTHREE-test

    std::string strThree("TestEnumClass: ");
    strThree += second;
    std::cout << strThree << std::endl; // TestEnumClass: TWO
    std::cout << "Enum count=" << *first << std::endl;
}

You can run the code here

Answer 2

I am not sure if this approach is already covered in one of the other answers (actually it is, see below). I encountered the problem many times and didnt find a solution that did not use obfuscated macros or third party libraries. Hence I decided to write my own obfuscated macro version.

What I want to enable is the equivalent of

enum class test1 { ONE, TWO = 13, SIX };

std::string toString(const test1& e) { ... }

int main() {
    test1 x;
    std::cout << toString(x) << "\n";
    std::cout << toString(test1::TWO) << "\n";
    std::cout << static_cast<std::underlying_type<test1>::type>(test1::TWO) << "\n";
    //std::cout << toString(123);// invalid
}

which should print

ONE
TWO
13

I am not a fan of macros. However, unless c++ natively supports converting enums to strings one has to use some sort of code generation and/or macros (and I doubt this will happen too soon). I am using a X-macro:

// x_enum.h
#include <string>
#include <map>
#include <type_traits>
#define x_begin enum class x_name {
#define x_val(X) X
#define x_value(X,Y) X = Y
#define x_end };
x_enum_def
#undef x_begin
#undef x_val
#undef x_value
#undef x_end

#define x_begin inline std::string toString(const x_name& e) { \
                static std::map<x_name,std::string> names = { 
#define x_val(X)      { x_name::X , #X }
#define x_value(X,Y)  { x_name::X , #X }
#define x_end }; return names[e]; }
x_enum_def
#undef x_begin
#undef x_val
#undef x_value
#undef x_end
#undef x_name
#undef x_enum_def

Most of it is defining and undefining symbols that the user will pass as parameter to the X-marco via an include. The usage is like this

#define x_name test1
#define x_enum_def x_begin x_val(ONE) , \
                           x_value(TWO,13) , \
                           x_val(SIX) \
                   x_end
#include "x_enum.h"

Live Demo

Note that I didnt include choosing the underlying type yet. I didnt need it so far, but it should be straight forward to modify to code to enable that.

Only after writing this I realized that it is rather similar to eferions answer. Maybe I read it before and maybe it was the main source of inspiration. I was always failing in understanding X-macros until I wrote my own ;).

Answer 3

You could use a reflection library, like Ponder:

enum class MyEnum
{
    Zero = 0,
    One  = 1,
    Two  = 2
};

ponder::Enum::declare<MyEnum>()
    .value("Zero", MyEnum::Zero)
    .value("One",  MyEnum::One)
    .value("Two",  MyEnum::Two);

ponder::EnumObject zero(MyEnum::Zero);

zero.name(); // -> "Zero"

Answer 4

Magic Enum header-only library provides static reflection for enums (to string, from string, iteration) for C++17.

#include <magic_enum.hpp>

enum Color { RED = 2, BLUE = 4, GREEN = 8 };

Color color = Color::RED;
auto color_name = magic_enum::enum_name(color);
// color_name -> "RED"

std::string color_name{"GREEN"};
auto color = magic_enum::enum_cast<Color>(color_name)
if (color.has_value()) {
  // color.value() -> Color::GREEN
};

For more examples check home repository https://github.com/Neargye/magic_enum.

Where is the drawback?

This library uses a compiler-specific hack (based on __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ / __FUNCSIG__), which works on Clang >= 5, MSVC >= 15.3 and GCC >= 9.

Enum value must be in range [MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MIN, MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MAX].

• By default MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MIN = -128, MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MAX = 128.

• If need another range for all enum types by default, redefine the macro MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MIN and MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MAX.

• MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MIN must be less or equals than 0 and must be greater than INT16_MIN.

• MAGIC_ENUM_RANGE_MAX must be greater than 0 and must be less than INT16_MAX.

• If need another range for specific enum type, add specialization enum_range for necessary enum type.

  #include <magic_enum.hpp>
  
  enum number { one = 100, two = 200, three = 300 };
  
  namespace magic_enum {
  template <>
    struct enum_range<number> {
      static constexpr int min = 100;
      static constexpr int max = 300;
  };
  }
  

Answer 5

Just generate your enums. Writing a generator for that purpose is about five minutes' work.

Generator code in java and python, super easy to port to any language you like, including C++.

Also super easy to extend by whatever functionality you want.

example input:

First = 5
Second
Third = 7
Fourth
Fifth=11

generated header:

#include <iosfwd>

enum class Hallo
{
    First = 5,
    Second = 6,
    Third = 7,
    Fourth = 8,
    Fifth = 11
};

std::ostream & operator << (std::ostream &, const Hallo&);

generated cpp file

#include <ostream>

#include "Hallo.h"

std::ostream & operator << (std::ostream &out, const Hallo&value)
{
    switch(value)
    {
    case Hallo::First:
        out << "First";
        break;
    case Hallo::Second:
        out << "Second";
        break;
    case Hallo::Third:
        out << "Third";
        break;
    case Hallo::Fourth:
        out << "Fourth";
        break;
    case Hallo::Fifth:
        out << "Fifth";
        break;
    default:
        out << "<unknown>";
    }

    return out;
}

And the generator, in a very terse form as a template for porting and extension. This example code really tries to avoid overwriting any files but still use it at your own risk.

package cppgen;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
import java.io.PrintWriter;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Map.Entry;
import java.util.regex.Matcher;
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

public class EnumGenerator
{
    static void fail(String message)
    {
        System.err.println(message);
        System.exit(1);
    }

    static void run(String[] args)
    throws Exception
    {
        Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("\\s*(\\w+)\\s*(?:=\\s*(\\d+))?\\s*", Pattern.UNICODE_CHARACTER_CLASS);
        Charset charset = Charset.forName("UTF8");
        String tab = "    ";

        if (args.length != 3)
        {
            fail("Required arguments: <enum name> <input file> <output dir>");
        }

        String enumName = args[0];

        File inputFile = new File(args[1]);

        if (inputFile.isFile() == false)
        {
            fail("Not a file: [" + inputFile.getCanonicalPath() + "]");
        }

        File outputDir = new File(args[2]);

        if (outputDir.isDirectory() == false)
        {
            fail("Not a directory: [" + outputDir.getCanonicalPath() + "]");
        }

        File headerFile = new File(outputDir, enumName + ".h");
        File codeFile = new File(outputDir, enumName + ".cpp");

        for (File file : new File[] { headerFile, codeFile })
        {
            if (file.exists())
            {
                fail("Will not overwrite file [" + file.getCanonicalPath() + "]");
            }
        }

        int nextValue = 0;

        Map<String, Integer> fields = new LinkedHashMap<>();

        try
        (
            BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(inputFile), charset));
        )
        {
            while (true)
            {
                String line = reader.readLine();

                if (line == null)
                {
                    break;
                }

                if (line.trim().length() == 0)
                {
                    continue;
                }

                Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(line);

                if (matcher.matches() == false)
                {
                    fail("Syntax error: [" + line + "]");
                }

                String fieldName = matcher.group(1);

                if (fields.containsKey(fieldName))
                {
                    fail("Double fiend name: " + fieldName);
                }

                String valueString = matcher.group(2);

                if (valueString != null)
                {
                    int value = Integer.parseInt(valueString);

                    if (value < nextValue)
                    {
                        fail("Not a monotonous progression from " + nextValue + " to " + value + " for enum field " + fieldName);
                    }

                    nextValue = value;
                }

                fields.put(fieldName, nextValue);

                ++nextValue;
            }
        }

        try
        (
            PrintWriter headerWriter = new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(new FileOutputStream(headerFile), charset));
            PrintWriter codeWriter = new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(new FileOutputStream(codeFile), charset));
        )
        {
            headerWriter.println();
            headerWriter.println("#include <iosfwd>");
            headerWriter.println();
            headerWriter.println("enum class " + enumName);
            headerWriter.println('{');
            boolean first = true;
            for (Entry<String, Integer> entry : fields.entrySet())
            {
                if (first == false)
                {
                    headerWriter.println(",");
                }

                headerWriter.print(tab + entry.getKey() + " = " + entry.getValue());

                first = false;
            }
            if (first == false)
            {
                headerWriter.println();
            }
            headerWriter.println("};");
            headerWriter.println();
            headerWriter.println("std::ostream & operator << (std::ostream &, const " + enumName + "&);");
            headerWriter.println();

            codeWriter.println();
            codeWriter.println("#include <ostream>");
            codeWriter.println();
            codeWriter.println("#include \"" + enumName + ".h\"");
            codeWriter.println();
            codeWriter.println("std::ostream & operator << (std::ostream &out, const " + enumName + "&value)");
            codeWriter.println('{');
            codeWriter.println(tab + "switch(value)");
            codeWriter.println(tab + '{');
            first = true;
            for (Entry<String, Integer> entry : fields.entrySet())
            {
                codeWriter.println(tab + "case " + enumName + "::" + entry.getKey() + ':');
                codeWriter.println(tab + tab + "out << \"" + entry.getKey() + "\";");
                codeWriter.println(tab + tab + "break;");

                first = false;
            }
            codeWriter.println(tab + "default:");
            codeWriter.println(tab + tab + "out << \"<unknown>\";");
            codeWriter.println(tab + '}');
            codeWriter.println();
            codeWriter.println(tab + "return out;");
            codeWriter.println('}');
            codeWriter.println();
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        try
        {
            run(args);
        }
        catch(Exception exc)
        {
            exc.printStackTrace();
            System.exit(1);
        }
    }
}

And a port to Python 3.5 because different enough to be potentially helpful

import re
import collections
import sys
import io
import os

def fail(*args):
    print(*args)
    exit(1)

pattern = re.compile(r'\s*(\w+)\s*(?:=\s*(\d+))?\s*')
tab = "    "

if len(sys.argv) != 4:
    n=0
    for arg in sys.argv:
        print("arg", n, ":", arg, " / ", sys.argv[n])
        n += 1
    fail("Required arguments: <enum name> <input file> <output dir>")

enumName = sys.argv[1]

inputFile = sys.argv[2]

if not os.path.isfile(inputFile):
    fail("Not a file: [" + os.path.abspath(inputFile) + "]")

outputDir = sys.argv[3]

if not os.path.isdir(outputDir):
    fail("Not a directory: [" + os.path.abspath(outputDir) + "]")

headerFile = os.path.join(outputDir, enumName + ".h")
codeFile = os.path.join(outputDir, enumName + ".cpp")

for file in [ headerFile, codeFile ]:
    if os.path.exists(file):
        fail("Will not overwrite file [" + os.path.abspath(file) + "]")

nextValue = 0

fields = collections.OrderedDict()

for line in open(inputFile, 'r'):
    line = line.strip()

    if len(line) == 0:
        continue

    match = pattern.match(line)

    if match == None:
        fail("Syntax error: [" + line + "]")

    fieldName = match.group(1)

    if fieldName in fields:
        fail("Double field name: " + fieldName)

    valueString = match.group(2)

    if valueString != None:
        value = int(valueString)

        if value < nextValue:
            fail("Not a monotonous progression from " + nextValue + " to " + value + " for enum field " + fieldName)

        nextValue = value

    fields[fieldName] = nextValue

    nextValue += 1

headerWriter = open(headerFile, 'w')
codeWriter = open(codeFile, 'w')

try:
    headerWriter.write("\n")
    headerWriter.write("#include <iosfwd>\n")
    headerWriter.write("\n")
    headerWriter.write("enum class " + enumName + "\n")
    headerWriter.write("{\n")
    first = True
    for fieldName, fieldValue in fields.items():
        if not first:
            headerWriter.write(",\n")

        headerWriter.write(tab + fieldName + " = " + str(fieldValue))

        first = False
    if not first:
        headerWriter.write("\n")
    headerWriter.write("};\n")
    headerWriter.write("\n")
    headerWriter.write("std::ostream & operator << (std::ostream &, const " + enumName + "&);\n")
    headerWriter.write("\n")

    codeWriter.write("\n")
    codeWriter.write("#include <ostream>\n")
    codeWriter.write("\n")
    codeWriter.write("#include \"" + enumName + ".h\"\n")
    codeWriter.write("\n")
    codeWriter.write("std::ostream & operator << (std::ostream &out, const " + enumName + "&value)\n")
    codeWriter.write("{\n")
    codeWriter.write(tab + "switch(value)\n")
    codeWriter.write(tab + "{\n")
    for fieldName in fields.keys():
        codeWriter.write(tab + "case " + enumName + "::" + fieldName + ":\n")
        codeWriter.write(tab + tab + "out << \"" + fieldName + "\";\n")
        codeWriter.write(tab + tab + "break;\n")
    codeWriter.write(tab + "default:\n")
    codeWriter.write(tab + tab + "out << \"<unknown>\";\n")
    codeWriter.write(tab + "}\n")
    codeWriter.write("\n")
    codeWriter.write(tab + "return out;\n")
    codeWriter.write("}\n")
    codeWriter.write("\n")
finally:
    headerWriter.close()
    codeWriter.close()

Answer 6

Well, yet another option. A typical use case is where you need constants for the HTTP verbs as well as using its string version values.

The example:

int main () {

  VERB a = VERB::GET;
  VERB b = VERB::GET;
  VERB c = VERB::POST;
  VERB d = VERB::PUT;
  VERB e = VERB::DELETE;


  std::cout << a.toString() << std::endl;

  std::cout << a << std::endl;

  if ( a == VERB::GET ) {
    std::cout << "yes" << std::endl;
  }

  if ( a == b ) {
    std::cout << "yes" << std::endl;
  }

  if ( a != c ) {
    std::cout << "no" << std::endl;
  }

}

The VERB class:

// -----------------------------------------------------------
// -----------------------------------------------------------
class VERB {

private:

  // private constants
  enum Verb {GET_=0, POST_, PUT_, DELETE_};

  // private string values
  static const std::string theStrings[];

  // private value
  const Verb value;
  const std::string text;

  // private constructor
  VERB (Verb v) :
  value(v), text (theStrings[v])
  {
    // std::cout << " constructor \n";
  }

public:

  operator const char * ()  const { return text.c_str(); }

  operator const std::string ()  const { return text; }

  const std::string toString () const { return text; }

  bool operator == (const VERB & other) const { return (*this).value == other.value; }

  bool operator != (const VERB & other) const { return ! ( (*this) == other); }

  // ---

  static const VERB GET;
  static const VERB POST;
  static const VERB PUT;
  static const VERB DELETE;

};

const std::string VERB::theStrings[] = {"GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE"};

const VERB VERB::GET = VERB ( VERB::Verb::GET_ );
const VERB VERB::POST = VERB ( VERB::Verb::POST_ );
const VERB VERB::PUT = VERB ( VERB::Verb::PUT_ );
const VERB VERB::DELETE = VERB ( VERB::Verb::DELETE_ );
// end of file