What's the proper way to share an enum across multiple files?

Question

I would like to use the same enum in both the client and server parts of my current (C++) project, but am unsure of the proper way to do this. I could easily just write the enum in it's own file and include that in both files, but that feels like it's poor practice. Would putting it in a namespace and then including it in both be the right way to do it?

I know this is a bit subjective, if there's a better place for "best practice" questions please direct me to it.

Edit (elaboration): I'm sending data from the client to the server and in this case I'd like tell the client about changes in state. However, I'd like to avoid sending all of the information that makes up a state every time I'd like to change it, instead I want to just send a number that refers to an index in an array. So, I figure the best way to do this would be with an enum, but I need the same enum to be on both the client and server so that they both understand the number. Hope that makes sense.

Answer 1

Putting it in a header file seems reasonable, and wrapping it in a namespace can be useful too. Something i find myself doing with enums is

contents of whatevsenum.hpp:

namespace whatevs
{
    enum Enum
    {
        FOO = 0,
        BAR,
        BLARGH,
        MEH,
        SIZE
    };
} // namespace whatevs

and then whenever i need to use it in a header/source file elsewhere:

#include "whatevsenum.hpp"

void do_something_with(whatevs::Enum value)
{
    // do stuff
}

...

do_something_with(whatevs::FOO);