how do I use an enum value on a switch statement in C++

Question

I would like to use an enum value for my switch statment in C++. Is it possible to use the enum values enclosed in the "{}" as choices for the "switch()"? I know that switch() needs an integer value in order to direct the flow of programming to the appropriate case number. If this is the case, do I just make a variable for each constant in the 'enum' statment? I also want the user to be able to pick the choice and pass that choice to the switch() statement.

For example:

cout << "1 - Easy, ";
cout << "2 - Medium, ";
cout << "3 - Hard: ";

enum myChoice { EASY = 1, MEDIUM = 2, HARD = 3 };

cin >> ????

switch(????)
{
case 1/EASY:  // (can I just type case EASY?)
    cout << "You picked easy!";
    break;

case 2/MEDIUM: 
    cout << "You picked medium!";
    break;

case 3/HARD: // ..... (same thing as case 2 except on hard.)

default:
    return 0;
}

Answer 1

The user's input will always be given to you in the form of a string of characters... if you want to convert the user's input from a string to an integer, you'll need to supply the code to do that. If the user types in a number (e.g. "1"), you can pass the string to atoi() to get the integer corresponding to the string. If the user types in an english string (e.g. "EASY") then you'll need to check for that string (e.g. with strcmp()) and assign the appropriate integer value to your variable based on which check matches. Once you have an integer value that was derived from the user's input string, you can pass it into the switch() statement as usual.

Answer 2

You can use an enumerated value just like an integer:

myChoice c;

...

switch( c ) {
case EASY:
    DoStuff();
    break;
case MEDIUM:
    ...
}

Answer 3

You can use a map to map the input to your enum:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <map>
using namespace std;

enum level {easy, medium, hard};
map<string, level> levels;

void register_levels()
{
    levels["easy"]   = easy;
    levels["medium"] = medium;
    levels["hard"]   = hard;
}

int main()
{
    register_levels();
    string input;
    cin >> input;
    switch( levels[input] )
    {
    case easy:
        cout << "easy!"; break;
    case medium:
        cout << "medium!"; break;
    case hard:
        cout << "hard!"; break;
    }
}

Answer 4

You're on the right track. You may read the user input into an integer and switch on that:

  enum Choice
  {
    EASY = 1, 
    MEDIUM = 2, 
    HARD = 3
  };

  int i = -1;

// ...<present the user with a menu>...

  cin >> i;

  switch(i)
  {
  case EASY:
    cout << "Easy\n";
    break;
  case MEDIUM:
    cout << "Medium\n";
    break;
  case HARD:
    cout << "Hard\n";
    break;
  default:
    cout << "Invalid Selection\n";
    break;
  }

Answer 5

Some things to note:

You should always declare your enum inside a namespace as enums are not proper namespaces and you will be tempted to use them like one.

Always have a break at the end of each switch clause execution will continue downwards to the end otherwise.

Always include the default: case in your switch.

Use variables of enum type to hold enum values for clarity.

see here for a discussion of the correct use of enums in C++.

This is what you want to do.

namespace choices
{
    enum myChoice 
    { EASY = 1 ,
        MEDIUM = 2, 
        HARD = 3  
    };
}

int main(int c, char** argv)
{
    choices::myChoice enumVar;
    cin >> enumVar;
    switch (enumVar)
    {
        case choices::EASY:
        {
            // do stuff
            break;
        }
        case choices::MEDIUM:
        {
            // do stuff
            break;
        }

        default:
        {
            // is likely to be an error
        }
    };

}