Toolbox C++

A small, header-only C++17 utility library for reusable helpers across normal C++ and game projects.

The library intentionally stays lightweight and depends only on the C++ standard library.

Install

Copy the include/toolbox directory into your project and add its parent include directory to your compiler's include path.

Then include the main header:

#include <toolbox/toolbox.hpp>

The public API lives in the toolbox namespace.

Random numbers

int number = toolbox::random(1, 100);
float value = toolbox::random(0.0f, 1.0f);

Integer ranges are inclusive. If min > max, the bounds are swapped automatically.

Floating-point bounds must be finite. Invalid non-finite bounds throw std::invalid_argument.

Chance

if (toolbox::chance(25.0f)) {
    // Happens roughly 25% of the time.
}

Percentages at or below 0 always return false. Percentages at or above 100 always return true.

Timer

The timer is independent of Raylib. Pass it delta time once per frame:

toolbox::Timer spawnTimer(3.0f);

spawnTimer.update(deltaTime);

if (spawnTimer.done()) {
    spawnEnemy();
    spawnTimer.reset();
}

With Raylib, deltaTime can simply be GetFrameTime().

elapsed() returns elapsed time and remaining() never returns less than 0.0f.

Invalid durations are treated as 0.0f. Invalid or negative delta times are ignored.

Logging

Logging writes to debug.log by default and flushes every message:

toolbox::info("Program started");
toolbox::warning("Enemy count: ", enemyCount);
toolbox::error("Failed to load texture: ", textureName);

Messages look like:

[18:52:31] [INFO] Program started
[18:52:34] [WARNING] Enemy count: 14

Logging appends by default. To start a new log for each program run:

toolbox::startLog();

Or choose a different filename:

toolbox::startLog("game.log");

If the file cannot be opened, the logger writes the failure and message to std::cerr instead of crashing.

Console input

getln reads a complete line and keeps asking until the value has the requested type and is inside any supplied bounds:

std::string name = toolbox::getln("Name");
int age = toolbox::getln("Age", 0, 120);
int score = toolbox::getln("Score", 0, 100, int{});

The variable name is the only required argument. The optional arguments are the minimum, maximum, and a type tag such as int{} or std::string{}. You can also specify only the type with toolbox::getln<int>("Age").

Complete example

#include <toolbox/toolbox.hpp>

int main() {
    toolbox::startLog();
    toolbox::info("Program started");

    int number = toolbox::random(1, 100);
    float value = toolbox::random(0.0f, 1.0f);

    if (toolbox::chance(25.0f)) {
        toolbox::info("Random event happened");
    }

    toolbox::Timer timer(2.0f);
    timer.update(0.016f);

    if (timer.done()) {
        timer.reset();
    }
}

CMake

If toolbox-cpp is inside another CMake project:

add_subdirectory(toolbox-cpp)
target_link_libraries(my_game PRIVATE toolbox::toolbox)

Build the included example with:

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build