Generate combinations of column with Fixed and column with Variable Values

S

SidKol

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2015
Messages
47
Hi all,

I'm playing around with VBA to find different ways of combination generation.

I have been able to create a tool to generate all possible combinations of FIVE values from one column
Order is not important
No repetition allowed

Input:
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 300"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD]B[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Variable[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]


Output: (all combinations of five values, no repetition, order not important)
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 389"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]RESULTS[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

This is the code:
Code: 
Sub combigenerator()


    Dim X As Long
    Dim a As Long, b As Long, c As Long, d As Long, e As Long
    Dim TotalValuesB As Integer


    'start from row 20 with results
    X = 20
    
    'count all variables in column B
    TotalValuesB = WorksheetFunction.CountIf(Range("B4:B15"), ("*?"))
    
    
    'clear previous result data
    With Sheets("Sheet1")
    .Rows(X & ":" & .Rows.Count).Delete
    End With
    


    'Loop combinations (no repetition, order not important)
    For a = 4 To (TotalValuesB + 3)
        For b = (a + 1) To (TotalValuesB + 3)
            For c = (b + 1) To (TotalValuesB + 3)
                For d = (c + 1) To (TotalValuesB + 3)
                    For e = (d + 1) To (TotalValuesB + 3)
       


          'Create a row with results
                        Cells(X, 1) = Cells(a, 2)
                        Cells(X, 2) = Cells(b, 2)
                        Cells(X, 3) = Cells(c, 2)
                        Cells(X, 4) = Cells(d, 2)
                        Cells(X, 5) = Cells(e, 2)
                        
        X = X + 1


        Next e
        Next d
        Next c
        Next b
        Next a
End Sub


Now I want to add a second column with FIXED Values for the input

Input:

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 300"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD]B[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]FIXED[/TD]
[TD]Variable[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]


Meaning that each combination should always start with ALL fixed values.
In this example: A and B
(But can also be for example E, F and I)

So desired output in this case is:

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 389"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]F[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]G[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD]I[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]



I have been playing around with nested looping, GoTo Labels, ElseIf etc, but I am receiving error after error whatever I try.
Can somebody point me in the direction of an efficient way to make this combination generator work for both fixed and variable values?

Any help greatly appreciated :)
 
Last edited:

Excel Facts

Which lookup functions find a value equal or greater than the lookup value?
MATCH uses -1 to find larger value (lookup table must be sorted ZA). XLOOKUP uses 1 to find values greater and does not need to be sorted.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Here's my solution:


Book1
ABCDE
3FixedVariableCount
4CE5
5DF
6G
7H
8I
20CDEFG
21CDEFH
22CDEFI
23CDEGH
24CDEGI
25CDEHI
26CDFGH
27CDFGI
28CDFHI
29CDGHI
Sheet1


Code: 
Public Sub GenerateCombinations()

Const StartRow = 20

Dim itemCount As Long
Dim fixedCount As Long
Dim variableCount As Long
Dim i As Long
Dim nextRow As Long
Dim ticker As Long

' Clear out previous results
If Cells(StartRow, "A").Value <> "" Then
    Range(Cells(StartRow, "A"), Cells(Cells(Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row, "A")).EntireRow.ClearContents
End If

' Get counts
itemCount = Range("C4").Value
fixedCount = Cells(StartRow, "A").End(xlUp).Row - 3
variableCount = Cells(StartRow, "B").End(xlUp).Row - 3

' Set up counters
ReDim pickers(itemCount - fixedCount) As Long
For i = 1 To itemCount - fixedCount
    pickers(i) = i
Next i

' Start of creating all combinations here
nextRow = StartRow
Do While True
    ' Fixed values
    For i = 1 To fixedCount
        Cells(nextRow, i).Value = Cells(i + 3, "A").Value
    Next i
    
    ' Variable values
    For i = 1 To itemCount - fixedCount
        Cells(nextRow, i + fixedCount).Value = Cells(pickers(i) + 3, "B").Value
    Next i
    
    ' Tick
    nextRow = nextRow + 1
    ticker = itemCount - fixedCount
    Do While True
        pickers(ticker) = pickers(ticker) + 1
        If pickers(ticker) > variableCount - (itemCount - fixedCount - ticker) Then
            ticker = ticker - 1
            If ticker = 0 Then Exit Do
        Else
            Exit Do
        End If
    Loop
    
    ' Finished?
    If ticker = 0 Then Exit Do
    
    ' Set up subsequent pickers
    If ticker < itemCount - fixedCount Then
        For i = ticker + 1 To itemCount - fixedCount
            pickers(i) = pickers(i - 1) + 1
        Next i
    End If
Loop

End Sub

WBD
 
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