scl-utility

Symbol name utilities

Compile-time name extraction for functions, methods, and class data members.

• Header: #include <scl/utility/meta/symbol.h>

Contents:

• symbol_name<S>
• symbol_short_name<S>

---

symbol_name<S>

Retrieves the qualified string name of a symbol (global function, member function, or data member).

This utility provides a unified way to extract identifiers for various C++ entities passed as non-type template parameters.

• Header: #include <scl/utility/meta/symbol.h>
• Declaration: template <auto S> constexpr std::string_view symbol_name() noexcept;

Semantics

• Aggressive Cleanup: The utility automatically removes compiler-specific “noise” such as:
  • Address-of operators (&).
  • Surrounding parentheses and extra whitespace (common in MSVC for global variables).
  • Type information injected into the signature by MSVC.
• Member Support: Works for both pointer-to-member-functions (&Class::Method) and pointer-to-data-members (&Class::Field).

Examples

#include <scl/utility/meta/symbol.h>

namespace sys {
    void initialize() {}
    struct Clock {
        int ticks;
        void reset() {}
    };
}

// Global/Namespaced function
static_assert(scl::symbol_name<sys::initialize>() == "sys::initialize");

// Member function
static_assert(scl::symbol_name<&sys::Clock::reset>() == "sys::Clock::reset");

// Data member (Property)
static_assert(scl::symbol_name<&sys::Clock::ticks>() == "sys::Clock::ticks");

Typical Use Cases

Implementation of serialization frameworks, automatic command-line argument mapping, or debuggers where the string name of a class field or function is required at compile-time.

---

symbol_short_name<S>

Retrieves only the terminal identifier of the symbol S.

• Header: #include <scl/utility/meta/symbol.h>
• Declaration: template <auto S> constexpr std::string_view symbol_short_name() noexcept;

Example

#include <scl/utility/meta/symbol.h>

struct Processor {
    void execute() {}
};

int main() {
    // Returns "execute" instead of "Processor::execute"
    constexpr auto name = scl::symbol_short_name<&Processor::execute>();
}

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