Enhanced Enum is a library that gives C++ enums capabilities that they don't normally have:

enum class StatusLabel {
    INITIALIZING,
    WAITING_FOR_INPUT,
    BUSY,
};

constexpr auto status = Statuses::INITIALIZING;

Their value is no longer restricted to integers:

static_assert( status.value() == "initializing" );
static_assert( status == Status::from("initializing") );

They can be iterated:

std::cout << "Listing " << Statuses::size() << " enumerators:\n";
for (const auto status : Statuses::all()) {
    std::cout << status.value() << "\n";
}

...all while taking remaining largely compatible with the fundamental enums:

static_assert( sizeof(status) == sizeof(StatusLabel) );
static_assert( status == StatusLabel::INITIALIZING );
static_assert( status != StatusLabel::WAITING_FOR_INPUT );

Why yet another enum library for C++?

There are plethora of options available for application writers that want similar capabilities than this library provides. Why write another instead of picking one of them?

Short answer: Because it solved a problem for me, and I hope it will solve similar problems for other people

Longer answer: There is a fundamental limitations to the capabilities of native enums within the standard C++, and in order to cope with them, enum library writers must choose from more or less unsatisfactory options:

• Resort to compiler implementation details. While this is a non-intrusive way to introduce reflection, it's not what I'm after.
• Use macros. By far the most common approach across the ecosystem is to use preprocessor macros to generate the type definitions. To me macros are just another form of code generation. The advantage is that this approach needs standard C++ compiler only. The drawback is the inflexibility of macro expansions.

Enhanced Enum utilizes a proper code generator to create the necessary boilerplate for enum types. The generator is written in Python, and unlocks all the power and nice syntax that Python provides. The generated code is clean and IDE friendly. This approach enables the enums created using the library to have arbitrary values, not just strings derived from the enumerator names. The drawback is the need to include another library in the build toolchain.

Getting started

The C++ library is header only. Just copy the contents of the cxx/include/ directory in the repository to your include path. If you prefer, you can create and install the CMake targets for the library:

$ cmake /path/to/repository
$ make && make install

In your project:

find_package(EnhancedEnum)
target_link_libraries(my-target EnhancedEnum::EnhancedEnum)

The enum definitions are created with the EnumECG library written in Python. It can be installed using pip:

$ pip install EnumECG

The library and code generation API are documented in the user guide hosted at Read the Docs.

Contact

The author of the library is Jaakko Moisio. For feedback and suggestions, please contact [email protected].