AllCombinations ( theString )

Lists all possible combinations of one or more characters contained in a string

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Michael Kupietz - Show more from this author
Michael Kupietz FileMaker Consulting
https://michaelkupietz.com

Sample input:

AllCombinations ("abcd")

Sample output:

a
ab
abc
abd
abcd
ac
ad
acd
b
bc
bd
bcd
c
d
cd

Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/*
AllWordCombinations function

Author
Michael E. Kupietz, FileMaker Consultant. Contact information and comprehensive resume can be found on https://www.kupietz.com 

Format
AllCombinations ( theString ) 

Parameters
theString - a text string

Data type returned
text

Description
Returns a list of every possible subset, of any length, of characters contained in parameter theString. 

March 14, 2013
*/

Case(
   Length( theString ) < 2; //case 1
     theString;
   Length( theString ) = 2; //case 2
     Left( theString; 1 ) & "¶" & Right( theString; 1 ) & "¶" & theString;
     Let(  //default case
        [
           nextvalues =
           AllCombinations( Right( theString; Length( theString ) - 1 ) );
           results = Left( theString; 1 ) &
           Substitute( "¶" & nextvalues; "¶"; "¶" & Left( theString; 1 ) ) &
           "¶" & nextvalues
        ];
        results
     )
)

/*
This software code is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

You are permitted to use or modify this code for personal, noncommercial use, provided it contains the entire top and bottom comment blocks without any alteration. 

Be excellent to each other.*/

This will list all possible subsets of one or more characters from a string. For example, AllCombinations ("abc") will return:

"a
ab
ac
abc
b
c
bc"

See function AllWordCombinations to perform the same operation on a string of words (such as "apple bed carrot") instead of single characters.

Comments

		Rudy Di Maggio, Crema, Italy Apr 10, 2013
Thanks Michael, this function is very helpful expecially when you have to manage (as I do) words for puzzle words games. It allows to quickly see how a word can be anagrammed. @rudydimaggio

		Michael Kupietz, Michael Kupietz FileMaker Consulting Apr 10, 2013
Thanks for your comment- always glad to hear someone found one of my posts useful.

		Cekari, Sweden Sep 13, 2013
Nice one Mikel, but thats not all combinations more a combination from a-z ie "abc" can be a ab abc ac b c bc . . . but also ba bac ca cab bca cb . . . and a stupidly long list with long text-strings :-) Cheers /Cekari

		Michael Kupietz, Michael Kupietz FileMaker Consulting Sep 13, 2013
You're right, it should have been "AllPermutations". Cheers!

Note: these functions are not guaranteed or supported by BrianDunning.com. Please contact the individual developer with any questions or problems.

AllCombinations ( theString )

Comments

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