Combine and mix strings in PHP

Question

I'm trying to loop something which can combine and mix 2 strings.

I want as a result, all possible combinations between characters of the given strings with the scheme "every character of the first string + every character of the second string". Example:

test & name
tame, teme, tese, tesme, teste, tname, tename, tesame, testme, tesname, testame
name & test
namt, nast, nest, namet, namst, ntest, namest, natest, namtest

I'm trying as following:

$str1 = "test";
$str2 = "name";

echo substr($str1,0,1).substr($str2,-3).','.substr($str1,0,2).substr($str2,-2).','.substr($str1,0,1).substr($str2,-4).','.substr($str1,0,3).substr($str2,-2)
.','.substr($str1,0,4).substr($str2,-1).','.substr($str1,0,2).substr($str2,-3).','.substr($str1,0,1).substr($str2,-5).','.substr($str1,0,2).substr($str2,-4)
.','.substr($str1,0,4).substr($str2,-2);

But this is partial and will require a lot to match all combinations. Also it's ugly. And also if the input strings are bigger or smaller, there will be a different amount of combinations.

Do you have any suggestion?

I will throw this into your thoughts though, a string can be treated as an array of characters i.e. `$str[0]` so you could look at loops to do whatever it is you are trying to do — RiggsFolly, Mar 07 '19 at 11:59
Possible duplicate of [How to combine two strings together in PHP?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8336858/how-to-combine-two-strings-together-in-php) — Mohammad Malek, Mar 07 '19 at 12:00
Maybe something like https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5506888/permutations-all-possible-sets-of-numbers — user3783243, Mar 07 '19 at 12:05
The given examples don't follow the same pattern. The first starts with mainly left + minor right, while the second switches that order. Also you might want to give an example of how different length strings should be handled. — Yoshi, Mar 07 '19 at 12:24
@Yoshi please follow this behaviour: namecombiner.com I want the same. — Dreg Korig, Mar 07 '19 at 12:35
@DregKorig No really I won't go to some other page and analyze some behavior you want to replicate. If you want people to help you, make an effort to at least formulate a complete question. — Yoshi, Mar 07 '19 at 12:37
@Yoshi then follow the example I wrote in the question. "From left to right" — Dreg Korig, Mar 07 '19 at 12:38

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 07 '19 at 13:00

0

You can try like this

$str1 = "test";
$str2 = "name";

$len1 = strlen($str1);
$len2 = strlen($str2);

for($i=0; $i<$len1; $i++)
{
  for($j=$i+1; $j<=$len1; $j++)
  {
    for($k=0; $k<$len2; $k++)
    {
      for($m=$k+1; $m<=$len2; $m++)
      {
        echo substr($str1, $i, $j - $i).substr($str2, $k, $m - $k)."\n";
      }
    }
  }
}

answered Mar 07 '19 at 13:00

IVO GELOV

13,496
1
17
26

almost ok, but the order of the characters inside a word should not be shuffled. – Dreg Korig Mar 07 '19 at 13:38
1

@DregKorig Would you be so kind to define the rules for this algorithm ? I assume you already know the rules and only struggle to implement them in code, right ? You are not asking us to translate your imprecise/vague explanation into an algorithm, right ? – IVO GELOV Mar 07 '19 at 13:48

Shoyeb Sheikh · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-07T13:46:33.317

0

$str1 = "test";
$str2 = "name";
$len1 = strlen($str1);
$len2 = strlen($str2);
$arr3 =array();
for ($i = 0; $i <=$len1; $i++) {  
    $arr3[] = substr($str1,0,$i+1).substr($str2,($i-$len1));
}
for ($i = 0; $i <=$len2; $i++) {  
    $arr3[] = substr($str2,0,$i+1).substr($str1,($i-$len2));
}

$arr3 = array_unique($arr3);
echo implode(',', $arr3);

I came up with this

edited Mar 07 '19 at 13:46

answered Mar 07 '19 at 13:08

Shoyeb Sheikh

2,659
2
10
19

this is almost what I wanted...but is it possible to always substr beginning with the first characters of the word? t...name , te...ame, tes...me, test...name, and so on – Dreg Korig Mar 07 '19 at 13:10
Have you looked at IVO GOLEV's answer that seems more precise – Shoyeb Sheikh Mar 07 '19 at 13:14
Both are almost ok, but the order of the characters inside a word should not be shuffled. – Dreg Korig Mar 07 '19 at 13:37

Combine and mix strings in PHP

2 Answers2