Cases where I miss C++ 'using'

[Daniel Keep]

Jari-Matti Mäkelä wrote:
> Daniel Keep wrote:
>>> Finally I wish there were some way to bring all the values in an *enum*
>>> into the current name resolution scope.  For example:
>>>
>>> enum Buttons {
>>>    Left,
>>>    Right,
>>>    Middle
>>> }
>>> with(Buttons) {  // doesn't work!
>>>    x = Left|Middle
>>> }
>>> alias Buttons B;
>>> y = B.Left | B.Middle;  // ok, but not as nice looking
>>>
>>>
>>> --bb
>> Allowing you to use an Enum's name without the prefix is one of the
>> things I actually miss about Visual Basic.  Sure, requiring the prefix
>> is nice for the sake of organisation, but it gets *really* aggravating
>> after a while.
> 
> I mostly use enums inside switch statements. Java makes a nice
> compromise here by only requiring the prefix outside switches. I don't
> like making them accessible everywhere without prefixing.

True, since that negates one of the benefits of Enums: organisation.
One thing I thought was very cool (I can't remember if this was VB6 or
VB.Net) was that if you were calling a function that took an enum, you
could omit the prefix.  ie:

> Sub Foo(SomeEnum e)

Could be called:

> Foo(SomeEnum.Bar)

Or:

> Foo(Bar)

Maybe if we allowed the prefix to be omitted when

a. we're switching on an enum,
b. we're passing an enum argument to a function and
c. when we're assigning to an enum typed variable

that would be enough.  Then again, maybe that's just because I'm a lazy
bugger :)

	-- Daniel

-- 
Unlike Knuth, I have neither proven or tried the above; it may not even
make sense.

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