Thread: Build a combination / sequencer

Hopefully I put this in the right board topic.

I'm not sure if I'm using the right wording but I want to build a program that can find a letter combination by doing through a loop trying every combination. It's hard to explain so I basically wrote an example of the output.

aaaaaa
aaaaab
aaaaac
...
zaaaag
zaaaah
...
zzzzzf
zzzzzg
zzzzzh
...
zzzzzx
zzzzzy
zzzzzz

So kind of like the number system, how you have columns (ones, tens, hundreds), each column changes by +1 when the number to the right reaches it's maximum. I want to be able to cycle through the entire alphabet before changing the letter in the next columns by +1, so "A" would become "B".

I want to be able to use it to find combinations. So their is 6 columns making it possible to find six letter words, like "Hotdog" or "Nature"

Sounds like a fun project, good luck with it!

Andy ideas how to do it? I'm trying "for" loops but it's just easier said than done.

Originally Posted by traceguy

I'm trying "for" loops but it's just easier said than done.

There are many ways to do it. Post what you have so far and explain what problem it has

I'm gonna work on it for a bit and post my WiP later tonight

--- Update ---

Well, I think I finally did it. You may have been right about there being more than one way. I kept starting over with a different strategy until I found one that clicked. I had to use multiple arrays and hard code each column to change when the other one reached the end, which is "z".

Here is the code

public class Letters {
	public static void main (String[] args) {
 
		// Place counter variables
                int one = 0;
		int ten = 0;
		int hun = 0;
		int tho = 0;
		int tentho = 0;
		int huntho = 0;
 
		// I"ve decided that I should use 6 arrays rather than 1.
		// Like the numeric system, there is  master columns. (ones, tens, hundreds)
		// After I get to the end of the "ones" array, the "tens" array index will +1
		// and It will repeat.	
		String[] ones = {"a","b","c","d","e","f","g","h","i","j","k","l","m","n","o","p","q","r","s","t","u","v","w","x","y","z"};
		String[] tens = {"a","b","c","d","e","f","g","h","i","j","k","l","m","n","o","p","q","r","s","t","u","v","w","x","y","z"};
		String[] huns = {"a","b","c","d","e","f","g","h","i","j","k","l","m","n","o","p","q","r","s","t","u","v","w","x","y","z"};
		String[] thos = {"a","b","c","d","e","f","g","h","i","j","k","l","m","n","o","p","q","r","s","t","u","v","w","x","y","z"};
		String[] tenthos = {"a","b","c","d","e","f","g","h","i","j","k","l","m","n","o","p","q","r","s","t","u","v","w","x","y","z"};
		String[] hunthos = {"a","b","c","d","e","f","g","h","i","j","k","l","m","n","o","p","q","r","s","t","u","v","w","x","y","z"};
 
 
for (int i = 0; i < 27; i++)
{
 if (one == 26) { 
	i = 0;
	one = 0;
	ten++;
	} 
 if (ten == 26) { 
	ten = 0;
	hun++;
	} 
 if (hun == 26) { 
	hun = 0;
	tho++;
	} 
 if (tho == 26) { 
	tho = 0;
	tentho++;
	} 
 if (tentho == 26) { 
	tentho = 0;
	huntho++;
	} 
if ( huntho == 27) {
	i = 27;
	}	
 
    System.out.print(hunthos[huntho]);
    System.out.print(tenthos[tentho]);
    System.out.print(thos[tho]);
    System.out.print(huns[hun]);
    System.out.print(tens[ten]);
    System.out.print(ones[one]);
 
    one++;
    System.out.println("\n");
 
} // for loop
 
} // main	
} // class

The code is still running and probably will be for the next few hours until I reach "zzzzzz". Until then I'm not sure if the program will end correctly. That will take a few seconds to fix if not.