Grouping Algorithm

Question

I am trying to help someone write a program that I thought would be easy, but of course it never was :)

I try to take a list of classes (usually between 10-20 students) and effectively uniquely combine each classmate with another to create unique groups. Therefore, in a class of 10 people you can have 9 groups.

He should be able to handle an odd number of students, adding to my confusion.

I looked at it in Java, but it is flexible. Any ideas on an algorithmic way to guarantee a) a non-infinite loop (ending in 2 people who were already partners) and b) I strive for more efficient time than space, as the class size will be small!

Thank!

Answer 1

You want to create a complete graph with each student as a node, then arbitrarily select the edges and insert them into a unique set.

In the next "pull" you want to do the same, except that now, if the edge is already selected, cancel and re-select.

Answer 2

This is an unusual answer for me - say "download the application" - but here you go:

What you describe can be quite similar to a chess tournament couple.

Check this out: http://home.swipnet.se/rullchef/chessp/

Here is an explanation of the Monrad system, which may be what you are after:

Monrad system

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Answer 3

Vlion . , ( Vlion!)

// create all the edges
for i := 1 to number_of_students - 1
  for j := i + 1 to number_of_students
    edges.add(new Edge(i,j))

// select all groups from the edges
for x := 1 to number_of_students - 1
  used_nodes.clear
  group.clear

  for y := 1 to number_of_students div 2
    do
      current_edge = edges.get_next
    while (current_edge.n1 not in used_nodes) and
          (current_edge.n2 not in used_nodes)

    used_nodes.add(current_edge.n1)
    used_nodes.add(current_edge.n2)

    group.add(current_edge)

    edges.remove(current_edge)

  groups.add(group)

Answer 4

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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.IO;

namespace Pairing
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //switch these lines if you'd prefer a command line interface to a text file.
            var rgs = File.ReadAllLines("Roster.txt");
            //var rgs = args;

            var setPairs = new HashSet<HashSet<string>>();
            for (var ixrgs = 0; ixrgs < rgs.Length - 1; ixrgs++)
                for (var ixrgsSubset = ixrgs + 1; ixrgsSubset < rgs.Length; ixrgsSubset++)
                    setPairs.Add(new HashSet<string>(new string[] { rgs[ixrgs], rgs[ixrgsSubset] }));

            var setGroups = new HashSet<HashSet<HashSet<string>>>();
            var setUsedPairs = new HashSet<HashSet<string>>();
            while (setPairs.Count > 0)
            {
                var setPairsTmp = new HashSet<HashSet<string>>(setPairs);
                var setTmp = new HashSet<HashSet<string>>();
                var setUsedVariables = new HashSet<string>();

                while (setPairsTmp.Count > 0)
                {
                    //give me the first element
                    var pair = setPairsTmp.First<HashSet<string>>();
                    //store it
                    setTmp.Add(pair);
                    //add it to our set of used variables
                    setUsedVariables.UnionWith(pair);
                    //remove it from our set of available pairs.
                    setPairsTmp.RemoveWhere(set => set.Intersect<string>    (setUsedVariables).Count<string>() != 0);

                    //remove its implicated deadlocks from our set of available pairs
                    //(this step is both gross, and key. Without it, failure potential arises.)
                        var s1 = new HashSet<string>();
                        var s2 = new HashSet<string>();
                        //get the set of variables paired with the first:
                        var rgPair = pair.ToArray<string>();
                        foreach (var set in setUsedPairs)
                        {
                            if (set.Contains(rgPair[0]))
                                s1.UnionWith(set);
                            if(set.Contains(rgPair[1]))
                                s2.UnionWith(set);
                        }
                        s1.IntersectWith(s2);
                        //enumerate the pairs created by the deadlocking pairs, remove them from our available selections.
                        var rgsTmp = s1.ToArray<string>();
                        for (var ixrgs = 0; ixrgs < rgsTmp.Length - 1; ixrgs++)
                            for (var ixrgsSubset = ixrgs + 1; ixrgsSubset < rgsTmp.Length; ixrgsSubset++)
                                setPairsTmp.RemoveWhere(set => set.Contains(rgsTmp[ixrgs]) && set.Contains(rgsTmp[ixrgsSubset]));
                }
                setPairs.ExceptWith(setTmp);
                setGroups.Add(setTmp);
                setUsedPairs.UnionWith(setTmp);
            }
            //at this point, setGroups contains the set of unique group combinations.
            //the non-maximally sized groups indicate unique sets that could form provided that
            //all other students are in redundant sets.

            var enumerableGroups = setGroups.OrderByDescending<HashSet<HashSet<string>>, int>(set => set.Count);
            //Sanity Check:
            foreach (var group in enumerableGroups)
            {
                Console.Write("{");
                foreach (var pair in group)
                    Console.Write(string.Format(@"[{0},{1}]", pair.ToArray<string>()));
                Console.WriteLine("}");
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

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