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MS Office Forum / Excel / New Users / February 2008Stumped on combinations
Hi I am stumped on a complex combination problem. I need to create all possible combinations to fill grids 7 columns wide with set parameter restrictions. Parameters are: 1) the number of columns the grid will take 2) the number of times 'x' is to appear in the columns, going downwards 3) the maximum number of spaces before an 'x' 4) the minimum number of 'x' in a row 5) the maximum number of x in a row. For example BuildGrids(3,1,6,2,3) might produce 000000x - this row has six spaces x00xxx0 - this row has three x 0xx0000 - this row has two xs Each column contains one and only one 'x' the maximum number of spaces is 6, the minimum number of times 'x' appears together is 2. This should keep producing different combinations that fit the rules until all possible combinations are exhausted. In the variations produced, we don't need to achieve either the maximum or minimum number of x in a row. It just need to fall within the parameters. BuildGrid(4,2,4,1,6) might produce 00xx00x xx00xxx xxx0xx0 000x000 The combination of rows two and three produce six x in a row.  SignatureStevie "Build a man a fire and he will be warm for one night. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life." ~ Sun-Tzu on Fire Would the formula 2^7 help you? 2^7 = 128 combinations As in: 000000x, 00000x0, 00000xx, 0000x00, 0000x0x, 0000xx0, 0000xxx, 000x000 etc? This is binary arithmetic. Tyro > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > The combination of rows two and three produce six x in a row. Perhaps if I was 35 years closer to learning advanced maths... However, it is a start. If I start on something smaller (say, on a scale of 2^4), I may be able to work it out. SignatureStevie "Build a man a fire and he will be warm for one night. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life." ~ Sun-Tzu on Fire > Would the formula 2^7 help you? 2^7 = 128 combinations > As in: 000000x, 00000x0, 00000xx, 0000x00, 0000x0x, 0000xx0, 0000xxx, [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] >> >> The combination of rows two and three produce six x in a row. OK, I have stage one working now and can generate all the 0X0.... <bg> required. The rest should just be a case of pruning out data that don't fit the rules on the fly and add the remainder to an array before creating combinations and pruning the combinations using the same rules. Anyone know where to grab a ready rolled function to pull all possible combinations and permutations of elements in as array using a parameter of the number of elements in a group? Example, CombArray(2) in a three element array (1,2,3) would return: 12 13 21 23 31 21 SignatureStevie "Build a man a fire and he will be warm for one night. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life." ~ Sun-Tzu on Fire > Perhaps if I was 35 years closer to learning advanced maths... > [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] >>> >>> The combination of rows two and three produce six x in a row. This will flag rows and columns that do not meet rules 2 to 5 http://www.freefilehosting.net/download/3bhd7 Actually 128 if we include 0000000 > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > The combination of rows two and three produce six x in a row. > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > The combination of rows two and three produce six x in a row. There seems to be some rules that are not true. For instance 000000x - this row has six spaces violates minimum number of times 'x' appears together is 2 xx00xxx xxx0xx0 The combination of rows two and three produce six x in a row. violates Each column contains one and only one 'x' |
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