java - How to get 2D array possible combinations

Question

I have the following 2D array:

String[M][]

String[0]
   "1","2","3"

String[1]
   "A", "B"
   .
   .
   .
String[M-1]
   "!"

All the possible combinations should be in store in a resulting array String[] combinations. So for example:

combinations[0] == {"1A....!")
combinations[1] == {"2A....!") 
combinations[2] == {"3A....!") 
combinations[3] == {"1B....!")

Notice that that the arrays are of variable length. Order of the elements in the output String doesn't matter. I also don't care if there are duplicates.

If the arrays were the same length, nested loops would do the trick, but they are not, and I really don't know how to approach the problem.

Answer 1

You can iterate through the combinations one at a time like clockwork by using an array to record the size of each inner array, and a counter array which keeps track of which member to use from each inner array. Something like this method:

/**
 * Produce a List<String> which contains every combination which can be
 * made by taking one String from each inner String array within the
 * provided two-dimensional String array.
 * @param twoDimStringArray a two-dimensional String array which contains
 * String arrays of variable length.
 * @return a List which contains every String which can be formed by taking
 * one String from each String array within the specified two-dimensional
 * array.
 */
public static List<String> combinations(String[][] twoDimStringArray) {
    // keep track of the size of each inner String array
    int sizeArray[] = new int[twoDimStringArray.length];

    // keep track of the index of each inner String array which will be used
    // to make the next combination
    int counterArray[] = new int[twoDimStringArray.length];

    // Discover the size of each inner array and populate sizeArray.
    // Also calculate the total number of combinations possible using the
    // inner String array sizes.
    int totalCombinationCount = 1;
    for(int i = 0; i < twoDimStringArray.length; ++i) {
        sizeArray[i] = twoDimStringArray[i].length;
        totalCombinationCount *= twoDimStringArray[i].length;
    }

    // Store the combinations in a List of String objects
    List<String> combinationList = new ArrayList<String>(totalCombinationCount);

    StringBuilder sb;  // more efficient than String for concatenation

    for (int countdown = totalCombinationCount; countdown > 0; --countdown) {
        // Run through the inner arrays, grabbing the member from the index
        // specified by the counterArray for each inner array, and build a
        // combination string.
        sb = new StringBuilder();
        for(int i = 0; i < twoDimStringArray.length; ++i) {
            sb.append(twoDimStringArray[i][counterArray[i]]);
        }
        combinationList.add(sb.toString());  // add new combination to list

        // Now we need to increment the counterArray so that the next
        // combination is taken on the next iteration of this loop.
        for(int incIndex = twoDimStringArray.length - 1; incIndex >= 0; --incIndex) {
            if(counterArray[incIndex] + 1 < sizeArray[incIndex]) {
                ++counterArray[incIndex];
                // None of the indices of higher significance need to be
                // incremented, so jump out of this for loop at this point.
                break;
            }
            // The index at this position is at its max value, so zero it
            // and continue this loop to increment the index which is more
            // significant than this one.
            counterArray[incIndex] = 0;
        }
    }
    return combinationList;
}

How the method works

If you imagine the counter array being like a digital clock reading then the first String combination sees the counter array at all zeroes, so that the first String is made by taken the zero element (first member) of each inner array.

To get the next combination the counter array is incremented by one. So the least-significant counter index is increased by one. If this causes its value to become equal to the length of the inner array it represents then the index is zeroed, and the next index of greater significance is increased. A separate size array stores the length of each inner array, so that the counter array loop knows when an index has reached its maximum.

For example, if the size array was:

[3][3][2][1]

and the counter array was at:

[0][2][1][0]

then the increment would make the least significant (right-most) index equal to 1, which is its maximum value. So that index gets zeroed and the next index of greater significance (the second-from-right) gets increased to 2. But that is also the maximum of that index, so it gets zeroed and we move to the next index of greater significance. That gets increased to three, which is its maximum value so it gets zeroed and we move to the most significant (left-most) index. That gets increased to 1, which is less than its maximum so the incremented counter array becomes:

[1][0][0][0]

Which means the next String combination is made by taking the second member of the first inner array, and the first member of the next three inner arrays.

Dire warnings and notes

I wrote this just now in about forty minutes, and it's half-one in the morning, which means that even though it seems to do exactly what is needed, there are very likely bugs or bits of code which could be optimised. So be sure to unit test it thoroughly if its performance is critical.

Note that it returns a List rather than a String array because I think that Java Collections are vastly preferable to using arrays in most cases. Also, if you need a result set with no duplicates, you can simply change the List to a Set which will automatically drop duplicates and leave you with a unique set.

If you really need the result as a String array, don't forget you can use the List<String>.toArray(String[]) method to simply convert the returned List to what you need.