Real-world use of X-Macros

Question

I just learned of X-Macros. What real-world uses of X-Macros have you seen? When are they the right tool for the job?

Answer 1

I like to use X macros for creating 'rich enumerations' which support iterating the enum values as well as getting the string representation for each enum value:

#define MOUSE_BUTTONS \
X(LeftButton, 1)   \
X(MiddleButton, 2) \
X(RightButton, 4)

struct MouseButton {
  enum Value {
    None = 0
#define X(name, value) ,name = value
MOUSE_BUTTONS
#undef X
  };

  static const int *values() {
    static const int a[] = {
      None,
#define X(name, value) name,
    MOUSE_BUTTONS
#undef X
      -1
    };
    return a;
  }

  static const char *valueAsString( Value v ) {
#define X(name, value) static const char str_##name[] = #name;
MOUSE_BUTTONS
#undef X
    switch ( v ) {
      case None: return "None";
#define X(name, value) case name: return str_##name;
MOUSE_BUTTONS
#undef X
    }
    return 0;
  }
};

This not only defines a MouseButton::Value enum, it also lets me do things like

// Print names of all supported mouse buttons
for ( const int *mb = MouseButton::values(); *mb != -1; ++mb ) {
    std::cout << MouseButton::valueAsString( (MouseButton::Value)*mb ) << "\n";
}