Limitations

July 23, 2026 · View on GitHub

Nameof

If the argument does not have a name, the compilation error "Expression does not have a name." occurs.

Nameof Type

This library uses a compiler-specific hack (based on __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ / __FUNCSIG__).
nameof_type and nameof_type_rtti return a compiler-specific type name.
To check if nameof_type is supported by your compiler use the macro NAMEOF_TYPE_SUPPORTED or constexpr constant nameof::is_nameof_type_supported.
If nameof_type is used on an unsupported compiler, a compilation error occurs. To suppress the error define the macro NAMEOF_TYPE_NO_CHECK_SUPPORT.
To check if nameof_type_rtti is supported by your compiler use macro NAMEOF_TYPE_RTTI_SUPPORTED or constexpr constant nameof::is_nameof_type_rtti_supported.
If nameof_type_rtti is used on an unsupported compiler, a compilation error occurs. To suppress the error define the macro NAMEOF_TYPE_NO_CHECK_SUPPORT.
To check is nameof_member supported compiler use macro NAMEOF_MEMBER_SUPPORTED or constexpr constant nameof::is_nameof_member_supported.
If nameof_member used on unsupported compiler, occurs the compilation error. To suppress error define macro NAMEOF_TYPE_NO_CHECK_SUPPORT.
To check is nameof_pointer supported compiler use macro NAMEOF_POINTER_SUPPORTED or constexpr constant nameof::is_nameof_pointer_supported.
If nameof_pointer used on unsupported compiler, occurs the compilation error. To suppress error define macro NAMEOF_TYPE_NO_CHECK_SUPPORT.

Nameof Enum

This library uses a compiler-specific hack (based on __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ / __FUNCSIG__), which works on Clang >= 5, MSVC >= 15.3 and GCC >= 9.
To check if nameof_enum is supported by your compiler use the macro NAMEOF_ENUM_SUPPORTED or constexpr constant nameof::is_nameof_enum_supported.
If nameof_enum is used on an unsupported compiler, a compilation error occurs. To suppress the error define the macro NAMEOF_ENUM_NO_CHECK_SUPPORT.
Runtime reflection of ordinary enum values is limited to [NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MIN, NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MAX]. NAMEOF_ENUM_CONST, nameof::nameof_enum<V>(), NAMEOF_ENUM_FLAG, and nameof::nameof_enum_flag() are not restricted by this range.
- By default NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MIN = -128, NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MAX = 127.
- NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MIN must be less than or equal to 0 and must be greater than INT16_MIN.
- NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MAX must be greater than 0 and must be less than INT16_MAX.
- If another range is needed for all enum types by default, redefine the macro NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MIN and NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MAX.
```
#define NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MIN 0
#define NAMEOF_ENUM_RANGE_MAX 256
#include <nameof.hpp>
```
- If another range is needed for a specific enum type, add specialization enum_range for necessary enum type. Specialization of enum_range must be injected in namespace nameof::customize.
```
#include <nameof.hpp>

enum class number { one = 100, two = 200, three = 300 };

template <>
struct nameof::customize::enum_range<number> {
  static constexpr int min = 100;
  static constexpr int max = 300;
};
```
Names of aliased enum values are compiler-dependent.
Forward-declared enums are not supported.
Visual Studio IntelliSense may have problems analyzing some nameof expressions.