How to Generate Combinations of Elements of a List in .NET 4.0

Question

I have a question that is similar, but not identical, to the one answered here.

I would like a function generate all of the k-combinations of elements from

Answer 1

I tried creating an enumerable that can accomplish this task in VB. This is the result:

Public Class CombinationEnumerable(Of T)
Implements IEnumerable(Of List(Of T))

Private m_Enumerator As CombinationEnumerator

Public Sub New(ByVal values As List(Of T), ByVal length As Integer)
    m_Enumerator = New CombinationEnumerator(values, length)
End Sub

Public Function GetEnumerator() As System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator(Of List(Of T)) Implements System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable(Of List(Of T)).GetEnumerator
    Return m_Enumerator
End Function

Private Function GetEnumerator1() As System.Collections.IEnumerator Implements System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator
    Return m_Enumerator
End Function

Private Class CombinationEnumerator
    Implements IEnumerator(Of List(Of T))

    Private ReadOnly m_List As List(Of T)
    Private ReadOnly m_Length As Integer

    ''//The positions that form the current combination
    Private m_Positions As List(Of Integer)

    ''//The index in m_Positions that we are currently moving
    Private m_CurrentIndex As Integer

    Private m_Finished As Boolean


    Public Sub New(ByVal list As List(Of T), ByVal length As Integer)
        m_List = New List(Of T)(list)
        m_Length = length
    End Sub

    Public ReadOnly Property Current() As List(Of T) Implements System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator(Of List(Of T)).Current
        Get
            If m_Finished Then
                Return Nothing
            End If
            Dim combination As New List(Of T)
            For Each position In m_Positions
                combination.Add(m_List(position))
            Next
            Return combination
        End Get
    End Property

    Private ReadOnly Property Current1() As Object Implements System.Collections.IEnumerator.Current
        Get
            Return Me.Current
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Function MoveNext() As Boolean Implements System.Collections.IEnumerator.MoveNext

        If m_Positions Is Nothing Then
            Reset()
            Return True
        End If

        While m_CurrentIndex > -1 AndAlso (Not IsFree(m_Positions(m_CurrentIndex) + 1)) _
            ''//Decrement index of the position we're moving
            m_CurrentIndex -= 1
        End While

        If m_CurrentIndex = -1 Then
            ''//We have finished
            m_Finished = True
            Return False
        End If
        ''//Increment the position of the last index that we can move
        m_Positions(m_CurrentIndex) += 1
        ''//Add next positions just after it
        Dim newPosition As Integer = m_Positions(m_CurrentIndex) + 1
        For i As Integer = m_CurrentIndex + 1 To m_Positions.Count - 1
            m_Positions(i) = newPosition
            newPosition += 1
        Next
        m_CurrentIndex = m_Positions.Count - 1
        Return True
    End Function

    Public Sub Reset() Implements System.Collections.IEnumerator.Reset
        m_Finished = False
        m_Positions = New List(Of Integer)
        For i As Integer = 0 To m_Length - 1
            m_Positions.Add(i)
        Next
        m_CurrentIndex = m_Length - 1
    End Sub

    Private Function IsFree(ByVal position As Integer) As Boolean
        If position < 0 OrElse position >= m_List.Count Then
            Return False
        End If
        Return Not m_Positions.Contains(position)
    End Function

    ''//Add IDisposable support here


End Class

End Class

...and you can use my code this way:

Dim list As New List(Of Integer)(...)
Dim iterator As New CombinationEnumerable(Of Integer)(list, 3)
    For Each combination In iterator
        Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", combination.Select(Function(el) el.ToString).ToArray))
    Next

My code gives combinations of a specified length (3 in my example) though, I just realized that you wish to have combinations of any length (I think), but it's a good start.