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C# Algorithm for Combinations/Permutations of a defined range of integers

I am trying to generate a list of unique combinations/permutations of 3 allowable values for 20 different participants (each of the 20 participants can be assigned a value of either 1, 2, or 3).
An example of one combination would be an array on length 20 with all ones like such:
{ 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 }
...and everything possible all the way up to
{ 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3 }
where each value in the array can be 1, 2 or 3.
I am stuck on writing my GetAllCombinations() function and I looked at some articles on permutation, but everything I have found is just confusing me more. I am not even sure if permutation is what I need here
So far I have this:
public List<int[]> GetValidCombinations()
{
const int positions = 20;
int[] acceptableValues = new int[3] { 1, 2, 3 };
//DO I USE PERMUTATION HERE TO BUILD MY ARRAY LIST OF ALL POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS?
var allPossibleCombinations = GetAllCombinations(positions, acceptableValues);
List<int[]> validList = new List<int[]>();
foreach (var combination in allPossibleCombinations)
{
//omited for berevity but I would
//do some other validations here...
if (true)
{
validList.Add(combination);
}
}
return validList;
}
public List<int[]> GetAllCombinations(int positions, int[] acceptableValues)
{
//For now returning null because I
//don't know How the heck to do this...
return null;
}
I have looked at some examples of permutation and I tried to use something like this below, but it did not produce what I was looking for:
static IEnumerable<IEnumerable<T>>
GetPermutations<T>(IEnumerable<T> list, int length)
{
if (length == 1) return list.Select(t => new T[] { t });
return GetPermutations(list, length - 1)
.SelectMany(t => list.Where(o => !t.Contains(o)),
(t1, t2) => t1.Concat(new T[] { t2 }));
}
public void Test()
{
const int k = 20;
var n = new[] { 1, 2, 3 };
var combinations = GetPermutations(n, k);
//DOES NOT WORK FOR WHAT I NEED
}
Running Test() worked with k was 3 or less but returned nothing if k was greater then 3.

Try this:
public static List<int[]> GetAllCombinations(int position, int[] acceptableVaues)
{
List<int[]> result = new List<int[]>();
int[] parent = new int[] { };
result = AddAPosition(parent, acceptableVaues);
while(position > 1)
{
var tmpResult = new List<int[]>();
foreach(var _parent in result)
{
tmpResult.AddRange(AddAPosition(_parent, acceptableVaues));
}
position--;
result = tmpResult;
}
return result;
}
public static List<int[]> AddAPosition(int[] parent, int[] acceptableValues)
{
List<int[]> result = new List<int[]>();
for (int i = 0; i< acceptableValues.Length; i++)
{
var anArray = new int[parent.Length + 1];
for (int j = 0; j< parent.Length; j++)
{
anArray[j] = parent[j];
}
anArray[parent.Length] = acceptableValues[i];
result.Add(anArray);
}
return result;
}

C# arbitrary nested Lists

In Python I can convert a binary tree structure to an arbitrary nested List:
great
/ \
gr eat
/ \ / \
g r e at
/ \
a t
[great, [gr, [g, r], eat, [e, at, [a, t]]]
Is there a way to build an arbitrary nested List in C#?
EDIT: I took a BinaryTree<T> class from MSDN docs as a base class for my custom StrBinaryTree class. Method FormTree is doing a job for creating a tree structure from a string:
public class StrBinaryTree : BinaryTree<string>
{
public StrBinaryTree(string data)
{
if (data.Length == 0)
{
base.Root = null;
base.Count = 0;
}
else
{
base.Root = new BinaryTreeNode<string>();
base.Root.Data = data;
base.Count = 1;
}
}
public void FormTree(BinaryTreeNode<string> node)
{
var subLength = node.Data.Length / 2;
if (subLength == 0)
return;
node.Left = new BinaryTreeNode<string>(node.Data.Substring(0, subLength));
node.Right = new BinaryTreeNode<string>(node.Data.Substring(subLength));
base.Count += 2;
FormTree(node.Left);
FormTree(node.Right);
}
...}

I would use recursion to go through the tree. Since you didn't told us the type of the tree we cannot provide you c# sample code.
But it would be something like this:
void List<Object> GetNestedListFromTree(Tree tree, List<Object> list = null)
{
List<Object> curList;
if (!tree.HasChildNodes)
return list;
else
{
if (list==null)
{
list = new List<Object>;
curList = list;
}
else
{
curList = new List<Object>;
list.Add(curList);
}
foreach(node in tree.ChildNodes)
{
curList.Add(node.Name);
curList.Add(GetNestedListFromTree(node.GetSubtree, curList));
}
return curList;
}
}
This isn't tested because I don't know your tree but yeah ... It should work if your tree can provide the needed functionality.

Try this solution
public static List<object> Solve(string input, List<object> list = null)
{
if (list == null)
return Solve(input, new List<object> { input });
if (input.Length > 1)
{
var middle = input.Length / 2;
var first = input.Substring(0, middle);
var second = input.Substring(middle);
var innerList = new List<object>();
list.Add(innerList);
foreach (var side in new[] { first, second })
{
innerList.Add(side);
Solve(side, innerList);
}
}
return list;
}
public static void Show(object input)
{
if (!(input is string))
{
Console.Write("[");
var list = input as List<object>;
foreach (var item in list)
{
Show(item);
if (item != list.Last())
Console.Write(", ");
}
Console.Write("]");
}
else
Console.Write(input);
}
Usage:
var result = Solve("great");
Show(result);//[great, [gr, [g, r], eat, [e, at, [a, t]]]]
Approximate code for BinaryTreeNode:
public static BinaryTreeNode<string> Solve(BinaryTreeNode<string> node)
{
if(node.Data.Length > 1)
{
var middle = node.Data.Length / 2;
var left = node.Data.Substring(0, middle);
var right = node.Data.Substring(middle);
node.Left = Solve(new BinaryTreeNode<string>(left));
node.Right = Solve(new BinaryTreeNode<string>(right));
}
return node;
}
Usage:
var result = Solve(new BinaryTreeNode<string>("great"));

Try this:
public Tree<string> Build(string text)
{
var tree = new Tree<string>() { Value = text };
if (text.Length > 1)
{
tree.Add(Build(text.Substring(0, text.Length / 2)));
tree.Add(Build(text.Substring(text.Length / 2)));
}
return tree;
}
public class Tree<T> : List<Tree<T>>
{
public T Value;
public override string ToString()
{
var r = $"\"{this.Value}\"";
if (this.Any())
{
r += $" [{String.Join(", ", this.Select(t => t.ToString()))}]";
}
return r;
}
}
When I run Build("great") I get:
"great" ["gr" ["g", "r"], "eat" ["e", "at" ["a", "t"]]]

Create a list of all permutation from different lists [duplicate]

This one should not be too hard but my mind seems to be having a stack overflow (huehue). I have a series of Lists and I want to find all permutations they can be ordered in. All of the lists have different lengths.
For example:
List 1: 1
List 2: 1, 2
All permutations would be:
1, 1
1, 2
In my case I don't switch the numbers around. (For example 2, 1)
What is the easiest way to write this?

I can't say if the following is the easiest way, but IMO it's the most efficient way. It's basically a generalized version of the my answer to the Looking at each combination in jagged array:
public static class Algorithms
{
public static IEnumerable<T[]> GenerateCombinations<T>(this IReadOnlyList<IReadOnlyList<T>> input)
{
var result = new T[input.Count];
var indices = new int[input.Count];
for (int pos = 0, index = 0; ;)
{
for (; pos < result.Length; pos++, index = 0)
{
indices[pos] = index;
result[pos] = input[pos][index];
}
yield return result;
do
{
if (pos == 0) yield break;
index = indices[--pos] + 1;
}
while (index >= input[pos].Count);
}
}
}
You can see the explanation in the linked answer (shortly it's emulating nested loops). Also since for performace reasons it yields the internal buffer w/o cloning it, you need to clone it if you want store the result for later processing.
Sample usage:
var list1 = new List<int> { 1 };
var list2 = new List<int> { 1, 2 };
var lists = new[] { list1, list2 };
// Non caching usage
foreach (var combination in lists.GenerateCombinations())
{
// do something with the combination
}
// Caching usage
var combinations = lists.GenerateCombinations().Select(c => c.ToList()).ToList();
UPDATE: The GenerateCombinations is a standard C# iterator method, and the implementation basically emulates N nested loops (where N is the input.Count) like this (in pseudo code):
for (int i0 = 0; i0 < input[0].Count; i0++)
for (int i1 = 0; i1 < input[1].Count; i1++)
for (int i2 = 0; i2 < input[2].Count; i2++)
...
for (int iN-1 = 0; iN-1 < input[N-1].Count; iN-1++)
yield { input[0][i0], input[1][i1], input[2][i2], ..., input[N-1][iN-1] }
or showing it differently:
for (indices[0] = 0; indices[0] < input[0].Count; indices[0]++)
{
result[0] = input[0][indices[0]];
for (indices[1] = 0; indices[1] < input[1].Count; indices[1]++)
{
result[1] = input[1][indices[1]];
// ...
for (indices[N-1] = 0; indices[N-1] < input[N-1].Count; indices[N-1]++)
{
result[N-1] = input[N-1][indices[N-1]];
yield return result;
}
}
}

Nested loops:
List<int> listA = (whatever), listB = (whatever);
var answers = new List<Tuple<int,int>>;
for(int a in listA)
for(int b in listB)
answers.add(Tuple.create(a,b));
// do whatever with answers

Try this:
Func<IEnumerable<string>, IEnumerable<string>> combine = null;
combine = xs =>
xs.Skip(1).Any()
? xs.First().SelectMany(x => combine(xs.Skip(1)), (x, y) => String.Format("{0}{1}", x, y))
: xs.First().Select(x => x.ToString());
var strings = new [] { "AB", "12", "$%" };
foreach (var x in combine(strings))
{
Console.WriteLine(x);
}
That gives me:
A1$
A1%
A2$
A2%
B1$
B1%
B2$
B2%

I made the following IEnumerable<IEnumerable<TValue>> class to solve this problem which allows use of generic IEnumerable's and whose enumerator returns all permutations of the values, one from each inner list. It can be conventiently used directly in a foreach loop.
It's a variant of Michael Liu's answer to IEnumerable and Recursion using yield return
I've modified it to return lists with the permutations instead of the single values.
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
namespace Permutation
{
public class ListOfListsPermuter<TValue> : IEnumerable<IEnumerable<TValue>>
{
private int count;
private IEnumerable<TValue>[] listOfLists;
public ListOfListsPermuter(IEnumerable<IEnumerable<TValue>> listOfLists_)
{
if (object.ReferenceEquals(listOfLists_, null))
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(listOfLists_));
}
listOfLists =listOfLists_.ToArray();
count = listOfLists.Count();
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
if (object.ReferenceEquals(listOfLists[i], null))
{
throw new NullReferenceException(string.Format("{0}[{1}] is null.", nameof(listOfLists_), i));
}
}
}
// A variant of Michael Liu's answer in StackOverflow
// https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2055927/ienumerable-and-recursion-using-yield-return
public IEnumerator<IEnumerable<TValue>> GetEnumerator()
{
TValue[] currentList = new TValue[count];
int level = 0;
var enumerators = new Stack<IEnumerator<TValue>>();
IEnumerator<TValue> enumerator = listOfLists[level].GetEnumerator();
try
{
while (true)
{
if (enumerator.MoveNext())
{
currentList[level] = enumerator.Current;
level++;
if (level >= count)
{
level--;
yield return currentList;
}
else
{
enumerators.Push(enumerator);
enumerator = listOfLists[level].GetEnumerator();
}
}
else
{
if (level == 0)
{
yield break;
}
else
{
enumerator.Dispose();
enumerator = enumerators.Pop();
level--;
}
}
}
}
finally
{
// Clean up in case of an exception.
enumerator?.Dispose();
while (enumerators.Count > 0)
{
enumerator = enumerators.Pop();
enumerator.Dispose();
}
}
}
IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
{
return GetEnumerator();
}
}
}
You can use it directly in a foreach like this:
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
var listOfLists = new List<List<string>>()
{
{ new List<string>() { "A", "B" } },
{ new List<string>() { "C", "D" } }
};
var permuter = new ListOfListsPermuter<string>(listOfLists);
foreach (IEnumerable<string> item in permuter)
{
Console.WriteLine("{ \"" + string.Join("\", \"", item) + "\" }");
}
}
The output:
{ "A", "C" }
{ "A", "D" }
{ "B", "C" }
{ "B", "D" }

Sort Array on on Value Difference

I Have An Array,for example
string[] stArr= new string[5] { "1#3", "19#24", "10#12", "13#18", "20#21" };
i want to sort this array on
3-1=2;
24-19=5;
12-10=2;
18-13=5;
21-20=1;
and the sorting result should be like
string[] stArr= new string[5] { "20#21", "1#3", "10#12", "13#18", "20#21" };
I have to find the solution for all possible cases.
1>length of the array is not fixed(element in the array)
2>y always greater than x e.g x#y
3> i can not use list

You can use LINQ:
var sorted = stArr.OrderBy(s => s.Split('#')
.Select(n => Int32.Parse(n))
.Reverse()
.Aggregate((first,second) => first - second));
For Your Case:
stArr = stArr.OrderBy(s => s.Split('#')
.Select(n => Int32.Parse(n))
.Reverse()
.Aggregate((first,second) => first - second)).ToArray();

try this
string[] stArr = new string[5] { "1#3", "19#24", "10#12", "13#18", "20#21" };
Array.Sort(stArr, new Comparison<string>(compare));
int compare(string z, string t)
{
var xarr = z.Split('#');
var yarr = t.Split('#');
var x1 = int.Parse(xarr[0]);
var y1 = int.Parse(xarr[1]);
var x2 = int.Parse(yarr[0]);
var y2 = int.Parse(yarr[1]);
return (y1 - x1).CompareTo(y2 - x2);
}

Solving this problem is identical to solving any other sorting problem where the order is to be specified by your code - you have to write a custom comparison method, and pass it to the built-in sorter.
In your situation, it means writing something like this:
private static int FindDiff(string s) {
// Split the string at #
// Parse both sides as int
// return rightSide-leftSide
}
private static int CompareDiff(string a, string b) {
return FindDiff(a).CompareTo(FindDiff(b));
}
public static void Main() {
... // Prepare your array
string[] stArr = ...
Array.Sort(stArr, CompareDiff);
}
This approach uses Array.Sort overload with the Comparison<T> delegate implemented in the CompareDiff method. The heart of the solution is the FindDiff method, which takes a string, and produces a numeric value which must be used for comparison.

you can try the following ( using traditional way)
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
string[] strArr= new string[5] { "1#3", "19#24", "10#12", "13#18", "20#21" };
var list = new List<Item>();
foreach(var item in strArr){
list.Add(new Item(item));
}
strArr = list.OrderBy(t=>t.Sort).Select(t=>t.Value).ToArray();
foreach(var item in strArr)
Console.WriteLine(item);
}
}
public class Item
{
public Item(string str)
{
var split = str.Split('#');
A = Convert.ToInt32(split[0]);
B = Convert.ToInt32(split[1]);
}
public int A{get; set;}
public int B{get; set;}
public int Sort { get { return Math.Abs(B - A);}}
public string Value { get { return string.Format("{0}#{1}",B,A); }}
}
here a working demo
hope it will help you

Without LINQ and Lists :) Old School.
static void Sort(string [] strArray)
{
try
{
string[] order = new string[strArray.Length];
string[] sortedarray = new string[strArray.Length];
for (int i = 0; i < strArray.Length; i++)
{
string[] values = strArray[i].ToString().Split('#');
int index=int.Parse(values[1].ToString()) - int.Parse(values[0].ToString());
order[i] = strArray[i].ToString() + "," + index;
}
for (int i = 0; i < order.Length; i++)
{
string[] values2 = order[i].ToString().Split(',');
if (sortedarray[int.Parse(values2[1].ToString())-1] == null)
{
sortedarray[int.Parse(values2[1].ToString())-1] = values2[0].ToString();
}
else
{
if ((int.Parse(values2[1].ToString())) >= sortedarray.Length)
{
sortedarray[(int.Parse(values2[1].ToString())-1) - 1] = values2[0].ToString();
}
else if ((int.Parse(values2[1].ToString())) < sortedarray.Length)
{
sortedarray[(int.Parse(values2[1].ToString())-1) + 1] = values2[0].ToString();
}
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < sortedarray.Length; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine(sortedarray[i]);
}
Console.Read();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw;
}
finally
{
}

Connect element in distinct array using recursion

if I have two array
A:[A,B]
B:[1,2,3]
how can I create a string List like [A_1, A_2, A_3, B_1, B_2, B_3]
the number of array is not regular, it's maybe have 3 more
A:[A,B]
B:[1,2,3]
C:[w,x,y,z]
D:[m,n]
E:[p,q,r]
can I use recursive to solve it?

So, we define a functions Mergethat takes lists of list of stings and merges them into the string enumerable you want
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var a = new[] { "A", "B" };
var b = new[] { "1", "2", "3" };
var c = new[] { "x", "y", "z", "w" };
var result = Merge(a, b, c);
foreach (var r in result)
{
Console.WriteLine(r);
}
}
public static IList<string> Merge(params IEnumerable<string>[] lists)
{
return Merge((IEnumerable<IEnumerable<string>>) lists);
}
public static IList<string> Merge(IEnumerable<IEnumerable<string>> lists)
{
var retval = new List<string>();
var first = lists.FirstOrDefault();
if (first != null)
{
var result = Merge(lists.Skip(1));
if (result.Count > 0)
{
foreach (var x in first)
{
retval.AddRange(result.Select(y => string.Format("{0}_{1}", x, y)));
}
}
else
{
retval.AddRange(first);
}
}
return retval;
}
we can also improve this, if you use Lists as inputs
public static IList<string> Merge(params IList<string>[] lists)
{
return Merge((IList<IList<string>>) lists);
}
public static IList<string> Merge(IList<IList<string>> lists, int offset = 0)
{
if (offset >= lists.Count)
return new List<string>();
var current = lists[offset];
if (offset + 1 == lists.Count) // last entry in lists
return current;
var retval = new List<string>();
var merged = Merge(lists, offset + 1);
foreach (var x in current)
{
retval.AddRange(merged.Select(y => string.Format("{0}_{1}", x, y)));
}
return retval;
}

This is simple iterating over n-ary dimension - no need for recursion for that, just array to store indexes.
static void Iterate(int[] iterators, ArrayList[] arrays) {
for (var j = iterators.Length - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
iterators[j]++;
if (iterators[j] == arrays[j].Count) {
if (j == 0) {
break;
}
iterators[j] = 0;
} else {
break;
}
}
}
static IList<string> Merge(ArrayList[] arrays) {
List<string> result = new List<string>();
int[] iterators = new int[arrays.Length];
while (iterators[0] != arrays[0].Count) {
var builder = new StringBuilder(20);
for(var index = 0; index < arrays.Length; index++) {
if (index > 0) {
builder.Append("_");
}
builder.Append(arrays[index][iterators[index]]);
}
result.Add(builder.ToString());
Iterate(iterators, arrays);
}
return result;
}
static void Main(string[] args) {
var list1 = new ArrayList();
var list2 = new ArrayList();
var list3 = new ArrayList();
list1.Add(1);
list1.Add(2);
list2.Add("a");
list2.Add("b");
list3.Add("x");
list3.Add("y");
list3.Add("z");
var result = Merge(new[] { list1, list2, list3 });
}

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace arrconn {
class Program {
static string[] conn(params Array[] arrs) {
if(arrs.Length == 0) return new string[0];
if(arrs.Length == 1) {
string[] result = new string[arrs[0].Length];
for(int i = 0; i < result.Length; i++)
result[i] = arrs[0].GetValue(i).ToString();
return result; }
else {
string[] result = new string[arrs[0].Length*arrs[1].Length];
for(int i = 0; i < arrs[0].Length; i++)
for(int j = 0; j < arrs[1].Length; j++)
result[i*arrs[1].Length+j] = string.Format("{0}_{1}", arrs[0].GetValue(i), arrs[1].GetValue(j));
if(arrs.Length == 2) return result;
Array[] next = new Array[arrs.Length-1];
next[0] = result; Array.Copy(arrs, 2, next, 1, next.Length-1);
return conn(next);
}
}
static void Main(string[] args) {
foreach(string s in conn(
new string[] { "A", "B" },
new int[] { 1, 2, 3 },
new string[] { "x" },
new string[] { "$", "%", "#" }))
Console.WriteLine(s);
Console.Read();
}
}
}

I guess your input are like this:
var A = ["A","B"];
var B = [1,2,3];
var C = ["x","y","z","w"];
And what you want to obtain is:
var result = ["A_1_x", "A_1_y",...
"A_2_x", "A_2_y",...
"A_3_x", "A_3_y",...
"B_1_x", "B_1_y",...
...
..., "B_3_z", "B_3_w"];
We'll be working with IEnumerable as it will simplify the work for us and give us access to the yield keyword.
First, let's take care of the case where we only concataining two collections:
IEnumerable<string> ConcatEnumerables(IEnumerable<object> first, IEnumerable<object> second)
{
foreach (var x in first)
{
foreach (var y in second)
{
yield return x.ToString() + "_" + y.ToString();
}
}
}
Then we can recursively takle any number of collections:
IEnumerable<string> ConcatEnumerablesRec(IEnumerable<IEnumerable<object>> enums)
{
//base cases
if(!enums.Any())
{
return Enumerable.Empty<string>();
}
if (enums.Count() == 1)
{
return enums.First().Select(o => o.ToString());
}
//recursively solve the problem
return ConcatEnumerables(enums.First(), ConcatEnumerablesRec(enums.Skip(1));
}
Now you just need to call ToArray on the result if you really need an array as your output.
string[] Concatenator(params object[][] parameters)
{
return ConcatEnumerablesRec(parameters).ToArray();
}

This should do the trick. Note that the input sequences do not have to be arrays - they can be any type that implements IEnumerable<>.
Also note that we have to case sequences of value types to sequences of <object> so that they are assignable to IEnumerable<object>.
Here's the compilable Console app demo code:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
namespace Demo
{
internal static class Program
{
static void Main()
{
string[] a = {"A", "B", "C", "D"};
var b = Enumerable.Range(1, 3); // <-- See how it doesn't need to be an array.
char[] c = {'X', 'Y', 'Z'};
double[] d = {-0.1, -0.2};
var sequences = new [] { a, b.Cast<object>(), c.Cast<object>(), d.Cast<object>() };
Console.WriteLine(string.Join("\n", Combine("", sequences)));
}
public static IEnumerable<string> Combine(string prefix, IEnumerable<IEnumerable<object>> sequences)
{
foreach (var item in sequences.First())
{
string current = (prefix == "") ? item.ToString() : prefix + "_" + item;
var remaining = sequences.Skip(1);
if (!remaining.Any())
{
yield return current;
}
else
{
foreach (var s in Combine(current, remaining))
yield return s;
}
}
}
}
}