Elegant way of getting number of items for NS_ENUM

Question

Is there an elegant way of getting the total number of items in a NS_ENUM? And the maximum value?

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Some examples:

typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, MyE         


        

Answer 1

Unfortunately, C enums (which NS_ENUM macro is a generator for) are rather simple, with no reflection.

If your enum values are consecutive, it's simple to get the number of items using limit values:

typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, MyEnum) {
    MyEnumA = 0,
    MyEnumB,
    MyEnumC,
    MyEnumMax 
};

NSUInteger numItems = MyNumMax;

However, this is not an ideal solution because when you write a switch, you will get a warning if you don't add a case MyEnumMax: (or default:).

Your best option then is to create info functions for every enum:

typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, MyEnum) {
    MyEnumA = 0,
    MyEnumB = 2,
    MyEnumC = 4,
};

NSUInteger MyEnumSize() {
   return 3;
}

You could also use some advanced macro techniques like X-macros to generate this function dynamically.

Big warning: X-macros are not simple, not easily readable but they are powerful. Example follows:

MyEnum.h

#define MY_ENUM_DEFINITIONS \
    NS_ENUM_X_VALUE(MyEnumA, = 0) \
    NS_ENUM_X_VALUE(MyEnumB,) \
    NS_ENUM_X_VALUE(MyEnumC, = 4)

#define NS_ENUM_X_VALUE(__NAME__, __INT_VALUE__) __NAME__ __INT_VALUE__,

typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, MyEnum) {
    MY_ENUM_DEFINITIONS
};

#undef NS_ENUM_X_VALUE

NSString * NSStringFromMyEnum(MyEnum value);
NSArray * MyEnumValues();
NSUInteger MyEnumSize();
NSUInteger MyEnumMin();
NSUInteger MyEnumMax();

MyEnum.m

#define NS_ENUM_X_VALUE(__NAME__, __INT_VALUE__) [__NAME__] = @#__NAME__,

static NSString* MyEnumStringTable[] = {
    MY_ENUM_DEFINITIONS
};

#undef NS_ENUM_X_VALUE

NSString * NSStringFromMyEnum(MyEnum value) {
    return MyEnumStringTable[value];
}

#define NS_ENUM_X_VALUE(__NAME__, __INT_VALUE__) @(__NAME__),

static NSOrderedSet * MyEnumValueSet() {
    static NSOrderedSet *valueSet = nil;
    static dispatch_once_t onceToken;

    dispatch_once(&onceToken, ^{
        valueSet = [[NSOrderedSet alloc] initWithObjects:
        MY_ENUM_DEFINITIONS
        nil];
    });

    return valueSet;
}

#undef NS_ENUM_X_VALUE


NSArray *MyEnumValues() {
    return [MyEnumValueSet() array];
}

NSUInteger MyEnumSize() {
    return MyEnumValueSet().count;
}

NSUInteger MyEnumMin() {
    return [MyEnumValueSet().firstObject unsignedIntegerValue];
}

NSUInteger MyEnumMax() {
    return [MyEnumValueSet().lastObject unsignedIntegerValue];
}

Usage

NSLog(@"MyEnum size: %@", @(MyEnumSize()));
NSLog(@"MyEnum min: %@", @(MyEnumMin()));
NSLog(@"MyEnum max: %@", @(MyEnumMax()));

NSLog(@"MyEnumC value to string: %@", NSStringFromMyEnum(MyEnumC));

for (NSNumber *value in MyEnumValues()) {
    NSLog(@"Value listing: %@ => %@", NSStringFromMyEnum([value unsignedIntegerValue]), value);
}

Now you can modify/add/remove values in the header and all your functions will be updated automatically.