Software & Finance





C# - Permutation Algorithm





You can find the c# source code for the permutation algorithm on this page. The number of combination for a string of N length characters is N!

 

However we can not simply go with the N! formula always. If we have a string with "ABC", then the number of combinations would be 3! = 6. But if we have a string with "AAA", then the combination would be just 1. You can find the source code for the algorithm which will take care of all the cases.

 

Related Links:

 

Source Code


using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Text;

 

namespace CSPermutation

{

    class Program

    {

        static public void sortchar(char [] buffer, int len)

        {

            for (int i = 1; i < len; i++)

            {

                for (int j = 0; j < len - i; j++)

                {

                    if (buffer[j] > buffer[j + 1])

                    {

                        char temp = buffer[j];

                        buffer[j] = buffer[j + 1];

                        buffer[j + 1] = temp;

                    }

                }

            }

        }

 

        static public bool NextPermuation(char[] p, int len)

        {

            for(int k = len - 1; k > 0; k--)

            {

                if(p[k - 1] >= p[k])

                    continue;

                else

                {

                    if(k <= len - 3)

                    {

                        char newchar = p[k-1];

                        int anchor = -1;

                        for(int j = len - 1; j >= k; j--)

                        {

                            if(newchar < p[j])

                            {

                                anchor = j;

                                break;

                            }

                        }

                        if(anchor == -1)

                            return false;

                        char ch = p[k-1];

                        p[k-1] = p[anchor];

                        p[anchor] = ch;

 

                        char[] tbuffer = new char[len - k];

                        for (int m = 0; m < len - k; m++)

                            tbuffer[m] = p[k + m];

                        sortchar(tbuffer, len - k);

                        for (int n = 0; n < len - k; n++)

                            p[k + n] = tbuffer[n];

                        return true;

                    }

                    else

                    {

                        char[] tempptr = new char[3];

                        tempptr[0] = p[p.Length - 3];

                        tempptr[1] = p[p.Length - 2];

                        tempptr[2] = p[p.Length - 1];

 

                        int count = 3;  

                        for(int i = count - 1; i > 0; i--)

                        {

                            if(tempptr[i - 1] >= tempptr[i])

                                continue;

                            else

                            {

                                if(i <= count - 2)

                                {

                                    if(tempptr[i+1] > tempptr[i-1])

                                    {

                                        char ch = tempptr[i+1];

                                        tempptr[i+1] = tempptr[i];

                                        tempptr[i] = tempptr[i-1];

                                        tempptr[i-1] = ch;

                                    }

                                    else

                                    {

                                        char ch = tempptr[i-1];

                                        tempptr[i-1] = tempptr[i];

                                        tempptr[i] = tempptr[i+1];

                                        tempptr[i+1] = ch;

                                    }

                                }

                                else

                                {

                                    char ch = tempptr[i];

                                    tempptr[i] = tempptr[i-1];

                                    tempptr[i-1] = ch;

                                }

                                p[p.Length - 3] = tempptr[0];

                                p[p.Length - 2] = tempptr[1];

                                p[p.Length - 1] = tempptr[2];

                                return true;

                            }

                        }

                        return false;

                    }

                }

            }

            return false;

        }

 

        static void Main(string[] args)

        {

 

            Console.WriteLine("Enter a string to find permutation:");

            string s = Console.ReadLine();

            char[] buffer = s.ToCharArray();

            // sortchar(buffer, buffer.Length); // use it only if you require

 

            int count = 0;

            while(true)

            {

                Console.WriteLine(buffer);

                count++;

                if (NextPermuation(buffer, buffer.Length) == false)

                    break;

            }

 

            Console.WriteLine("\nCount: " + count);

        }

    }

}

 

Output


 

Enter a string to find permutation: 123

123

132

213

231

312

321

 

Count: 6

Press any key to continue . . .

 

 

Enter a string to find permutation: 4123

4123

4132

4213

4231

4312

4321

 

Count: 6

Press any key to continue . . .

 

 

NOTE: If you use the sortchar function after the user input, then output would be changed to give always all possible combinations:

 

Enter a string to find permutation: 4123

1234

1243

1324

1342

1423

1432

2134

2143

2314

2341

2413

2431

3124

3142

3214

3241

3412

3421

4123

4132

4213

4231

4312

4321

 

Count: 24

Press any key to continue . . .