Calculating Permutations
Windows only
Overview
The permutation of a set is the number of ways that the items in the set can be uniquely ordered. For example, the permutations of the set $${1, 2, 3}$$ are: $${1, 2, 3}$$, $${1, 3, 2}$$, $${2, 1, 3}$$, $${2, 3, 1}$$, $${3, 1, 2}$$, and $${3, 2, 1}$$.
For $$N$$ objects, the number of permutations is $$N$$ (N factorial, or $$1 * 2 * 3 * N$$).
Example
There are a number of methods for calculating permutation sets. The implementation below uses an ordered, or lexicographic, permutation algorithm. This algorithm is based on a a permutation algorithm from the book Practical Algorithms in C++ by Bryan Flamig.
Option Explicit
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' TestPermute - the Main subroutine
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Sub TestPermute
Dim arr, n
'arr = Array("One", "Two", "Three", "Four")
'arr = Array(1, "Two", 3, "Four")
arr = Array(1, 2, 3, 4)
n = UBound(arr) + 1
Rhino.ClearCommandHistory
Call Rhino.Print(PermuteCount(n))
Call Permute(arr, 0, n)
End Sub
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' Permute
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Sub Permute(ByRef arr, ByVal start, ByVal n)
Dim i, j
Call PermutePrint(arr)
If (start < n) Then
For i = n-2 To start Step -1
For j = i+1 To n-1
Call PermuteSwap(arr, i, j)
Call Permute(arr, i+1, n)
Next
Call PermuteRotate(arr, i, n)
Next
End If
End Sub
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' PermutePrint
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Sub PermutePrint(ByRef arr)
Dim s, v
s = ""
For Each v In arr
s = s & CStr(v) & vbTab
Next
Rhino.Print s
End Sub
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' PermuteSwap
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Sub PermuteSwap(ByRef arr, ByVal i, ByVal j)
Dim tmp
tmp = arr(i)
arr(i) = arr(j)
arr(j) = tmp
End Sub
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' PermuteRotate
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Sub PermuteRotate(ByRef arr, ByVal start, ByVal n)
Dim tmp, i
tmp = arr(start)
For i = start To n-2
arr(i) = arr(i+1)
Next
arr(n-1) = tmp
End Sub
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' PermuteCount (e.g. Factorial)
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Function PermuteCount(ByVal n)
If n <= 1 Then
PermuteCount = 1
Else
PermuteCount = n * PermuteCount(n-1)
End If
End Function
