Generating combinations from multiple sets

  • Thread starter Srinivas Jonnalagadda
  • Start date
S

Srinivas Jonnalagadda

Dear all,

I have a requirement as below.

There are 'n' containers of lengths {l_i}, i = 1,..,n. All these
containers are collected into an array. Picking one element at a time
from each container, an array has to be constructed and either yielded
or accumulated.

I have written the following code that seems to work reasonably. Are
there simpler or more efficient ways of doing this?

Thanks in advance,

JS

* * * *

def generate_combinations(cont_ary, &blk)

cont_count = cont_ary.length

return if cont_count < 1

if cont_count == 1
if block_given?
cont_ary[0].each { | el | yield [el] }
return
else
return cont_ary[0].collect { | el | [el] }
end
end

cur_indices = Array.new(cont_count, 0)
combinations = []

generate_combinations_iterator(cont_ary, 0, cur_indices,
:working_set => Array.new(cont_count),
:accumulator => combinations,
&blk)

return combinations unless block_given?

end

#

def generate_combinations_iterator(cont_ary, cur_cont, cur_indices, opts
= {}, &blk)

cont_ary[cur_cont].each_with_index do | el, i |

opts[:working_set][cur_cont] = el

case cur_cont
when 0
cur_indices[cur_cont] = i
(1...cur_indices.length).each { | j | cur_indices[j] = 0 }
generate_combinations_iterator(cont_ary, cur_cont + 1,
cur_indices, opts, &blk)

when cont_ary.length-1
if block_given?
yield opts[:working_set]
else
opts[:accumulator] << Array.new(opts[:working_set])
end

else
cur_indices[cur_cont] = i
generate_combinations_iterator(cont_ary, cur_cont + 1,
cur_indices, opts, &blk)
end

end

end

#

Output
------

irb(main):011:0> load 'combination-generator.rb'
=> true

irb(main):012:0> ary1 = []
=> []

irb(main):013:0> generate_combinations(ary1)
=> nil

irb(main):014:0> ary2 = [[1, 2, 3, 4]]
=> [[1, 2, 3, 4]]

irb(main):015:0> pp generate_combinations(ary2)
[[1], [2], [3], [4]]
=> nil

irb(main):016:0> ary3 = [[1, 2, 3, 4], ['a', 'b', 'c']]
=> [[1, 2, 3, 4], ["a", "b", "c"]]

irb(main):017:0> pp generate_combinations(ary3)
[[1, "a"],
[1, "b"],
[1, "c"],
[2, "a"],
[2, "b"],
[2, "c"],
[3, "a"],
[3, "b"],
[3, "c"],
[4, "a"],
[4, "b"],
[4, "c"]]
=> nil
 
S

Srinivas Jonnalagadda

Thank you!

Preliminary testing seems to show that it indeed is faster. I think it
is understandable since it is doing inline expansion, rather than
recursion.

Nice use of code generation.

Best regards,

JS
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
473,744
Messages
2,569,484
Members
44,903
Latest member
orderPeak8CBDGummies

Latest Threads

Top