C++ Enumeration Iteration over an enum

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Example

There is no built-in to iterate over enumeration.

But there are several ways

  • for enum with only consecutive values:

    enum E {
        Begin,
        E1 = Begin,
        E2,
        // ..
        En,
        End
    };
    
    for (E e = E::Begin; e != E::End; ++e) {
        // Do job with e
    }
    
C++11

with enum class, operator ++ has to be implemented:

E& operator ++ (E& e)
{
    if (e == E::End) {
        throw std::out_of_range("for E& operator ++ (E&)");
    }
    e = E(static_cast<std::underlying_type<E>::type>(e) + 1);
    return e;
}
  • using a container as std::vector

    enum E {
        E1 = 4,
        E2 = 8,
        // ..
        En
    };
    
    std::vector<E> build_all_E()
    {
        const E all[] = {E1, E2, /*..*/ En};
        
        return std::vector<E>(all, all + sizeof(all) / sizeof(E));
    }
    
    std::vector<E> all_E = build_all_E();
    

    and then

    for (std::vector<E>::const_iterator it = all_E.begin(); it != all_E.end(); ++it) {
        E e = *it;
        // Do job with e;
    }
    
C++11
  • or std::initializer_list and a simpler syntax:

    enum E {
        E1 = 4,
        E2 = 8,
        // ..
        En
    };
    
    constexpr std::initializer_list<E> all_E = {E1, E2, /*..*/ En};
    

    and then

    for (auto e : all_E) {
        // Do job with e
    }
    


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