# FUNCTION getCombos: To generate all combos of an input list, consider the following sets of nested lists...
#
# [ [ [] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A],[B] ], [ [A,B] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A],[B],[C] ], [ [A,B],[A,C],[B,C] ], [ [A,B,C] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A],[B],[C],[D] ], [ [A,B],[A,C],[B,C],[A,D],[B,D],[C,D] ], [ [A,B,C],[A,B,D],[A,C,D],[B,C,D] ], [ [A,B,C,D] ] ]
#
# There is a set of lists for each number of items that will occur in a combo (including an empty set).
# For each additional item, begin at the back of the list by adding an empty list, then taking the set of
# lists in the previous column (e.g., in the last list, for sets of 3 items you take the existing set of
# 3-item lists and append to it additional lists created by appending the item (4) to the lists in the
# next smallest item count set. In this case, for the three sets of 2-items in the previous list. Repeat
# for each set of lists back to the initial list containing just the empty list.
#
def getCombos(listIn = ['A','B','C','D','E','F'] ):
listCombos = [ [ [] ] ] # list of lists of combos, seeded with a list containing only the empty list
listSimple = [] # list to contain the final returned list of items (e.g., characters)
for item in listIn:
listCombos.append([]) # append an emtpy list to the end for each new item added
for index in xrange(len(listCombos)-1, 0, -1): # set the index range to work through the list
for listPrev in listCombos[index-1]: # retrieve the lists from the previous column
listCur = listPrev[:] # create a new temporary list object to update
listCur.append(item) # add the item to the previous list to make it current
listCombos[index].append(listCur) # list length and append it to the current list
itemCombo = '' # Create a str to concatenate list items into a str
for item in listCur: # concatenate the members of the lists to create
itemCombo += item # create a string of items
listSimple.append(itemCombo) # add to the final output list
return [listSimple, listCombos]
# END getCombos()
# FUNCTION getCombos: To generate all combos of an input list, consider the following sets of nested lists...
#
# [ [ [] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A],[B] ], [ [A,B] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A],[B],[C] ], [ [A,B],[A,C],[B,C] ], [ [A,B,C] ] ]
# [ [ [] ], [ [A],[B],[C],[D] ], [ [A,B],[A,C],[B,C],[A,D],[B,D],[C,D] ], [ [A,B,C],[A,B,D],[A,C,D],[B,C,D] ], [ [A,B,C,D] ] ]
#
# There is a set of lists for each number of items that will occur in a combo (including an empty set).
# For each additional item, begin at the back of the list by adding an empty list, then taking the set of
# lists in the previous column (e.g., in the last list, for sets of 3 items you take the existing set of
# 3-item lists and append to it additional lists created by appending the item (4) to the lists in the
# next smallest item count set. In this case, for the three sets of 2-items in the previous list. Repeat
# for each set of lists back to the initial list containing just the empty list.
#
def getCombos(listIn = ['A','B','C','D','E','F'] ):
listCombos = [ [ [] ] ] # list of lists of combos, seeded with a list containing only the empty list
listSimple = [] # list to contain the final returned list of items (e.g., characters)
for item in listIn:
listCombos.append([]) # append an emtpy list to the end for each new item added
for index in xrange(len(listCombos)-1, 0, -1): # set the index range to work through the list
for listPrev in listCombos[index-1]: # retrieve the lists from the previous column
listCur = listPrev[:] # create a new temporary list object to update
listCur.append(item) # add the item to the previous list to make it current
listCombos[index].append(listCur) # list length and append it to the current list
itemCombo = '' # Create a str to concatenate list items into a str
for item in listCur: # concatenate the members of the lists to create
itemCombo += item # create a string of items
listSimple.append(itemCombo) # add to the final output list
return [listSimple, listCombos]
# END getCombos()
