String enum

[ischuldt]

Is there a simple way to turn an enum into a string?
so I have:

enum UpdateType{
   CC,
   RV,
   PK,
};

so then I have a function that accepts that enum as a parameter like this:

void do_something(UpdateType type);

and inside of that method I want to call another method like this:

void do_more_stuff(std::string& type);

I want the call to do_more_stuff to look something like this:

do_more_stuff(type);

or like this:

do_more_stuff(type.to_string());

Is that possible? What would be the simplest way to mimic this behavior.

[Disch]

Lookup tables are the quick-n-easy way:

enum UpdateType
{
  CC,
  RV,
  PK,
};

const char* UpdateStrings[] =   // or make them strings instead of const char*s
{
  "CC",
  "RV",
  "PK"
};

//...
void do_something(UpdateType type)
{
  do_more_stuff( UpdateStrings[ type ] );
}

Although this can maintanance tricky because you have to keep your enum and the lookup table in sync.

[Galik]

I guess there is always the "Typesafe Enum" pattern from Java. Here is a C++ take on it:

http://www.wambold.com/Martin/writings/typesafe-enums.html