generate a set of of all combinations of special characters and numbers around a string - python

Question

I am attempting to generate all combinations of special characters and numbers around a string. For example, suppose the string is 'notebook' and the special characters are @, #, $, %, & and numbers 0-9. This could generate: $#notebook12, notebook8, @5notebook0&. I am assuming no repeats of characters.

Thanks in advance.

So far I can only generate:

special = ['@','#','$','%','&',' ',0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,' ']

choice = list(permutations(special, 2))
word = ['notebook']

pw_choice = word + choice
test = list(permutations(pw_choice, 2))

print(test)

But this results in a list of list that I would have to manipulate further. Is there an easier work around to produce the set of _ _ notebook _ _ ?

Answer 1

Try this:

from itertools import combinations, permutations

result = [
    ''.join(p)
    for n_chars in range(len(special) + 1)
    for chars in combinations(special, n_chars)
    for p in permutations(('notebook',) + chars)
]

Example with special = ['@','#','$']:

['notebook', 'notebook@', '@notebook', 'notebook#', '#notebook',
 'notebook$', '$notebook', 'notebook@#', 'notebook#@',
 '@notebook#', '@#notebook', '#notebook@', '#@notebook',
 'notebook@$', 'notebook$@', '@notebook$', '@$notebook',
 '$notebook@', '$@notebook', 'notebook#$', 'notebook$#',
 '#notebook$', '#$notebook', '$notebook#', '$#notebook',
 'notebook@#$', 'notebook@$#', 'notebook#@$', 'notebook#$@',
 'notebook$@#', 'notebook$#@', '@notebook#$', '@notebook$#',
 '@#notebook$', '@#$notebook', '@$notebook#', '@$#notebook',
 '#notebook@$', '#notebook$@', '#@notebook$', '#@$notebook',
 '#$notebook@', '#$@notebook', '$notebook@#', '$notebook#@',
 '$@notebook#', '$@#notebook', '$#notebook@', '$#@notebook']

If you only want at most two chars before and after the "notebook" string:

from itertools import combinations

result = [
    f'{"{}"*b}notebook{"{}"*a}'.format(*c)
    for b in range(3)
    for a in range(3)
    for c in combinations(special, a + b)
]

This is the result (with special = ['@','#','$']):

['notebook', 'notebook@', 'notebook#', 'notebook$', 'notebook@#',
 'notebook@$', 'notebook#$', '@notebook', '#notebook', '$notebook',
 '@notebook#', '@notebook$', '#notebook$', '@notebook#$',
 '@#notebook', '@$notebook', '#$notebook', '@#notebook$']