Nested for loops recursion - c++

Question

I looked up in many places and tried to understand how to get arbitrary number of nested for loops via recursion. But what I have understood is clearly wrong.
I need to generate coordinates in an n-dimensional space, in a grid-pattern. The actual problem has different coordinates with different ranges, but to get simpler things right first, I have used the same, integer-stepped coordinate ranges in the code below.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
void recursion(int n);
int main(){
recursion(3);
return 0;
}
void recursion(int n)
{
if(n!=0){
for(int x=1; x<4; x++){
cout<<x<<" ";
recursion(n-1);
}
}
else cout<<endl;
}
I want, and was expecting the output to be:
1 1 1
1 1 2
1 1 3
1 2 1
1 2 2
1 2 3
1 3 1
1 3 2
1 3 3
2 1 1
2 1 2
2 1 3
2 2 1
2 2 2
2 2 3
2 3 1
2 3 2
2 3 3
3 1 1
3 1 2
3 1 3
3 2 1
3 2 2
3 2 3
3 3 1
3 3 2
3 3 3
Instead, the output I'm getting is
1 1 1
2
3
2 1
2
3
3 1
2
3
2 1 1
2
3
2 1
2
3
3 1
2
3
3 1 1
2
3
2 1
2
3
3 1
2
3
I just can't figure out whats wrong. Any help to figure out the mistake or even another way to generate coordinates will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Non-recursive solution based on add-with-carry:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
bool addOne(int* indices, int n, int ceiling) {
for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
if (++indices[i] <= ceiling) {
return true;
}
indices[i] = 1;
}
return false;
}
void printIndices(int* indices, int n) {
for (int i = n-1; i >= 0; --i) {
cout << indices[i] << ' ';
}
cout << '\n';
}
int main() {
int indices[3];
for (int i=0; i < 3; ++i) {
indices[i] = 1;
}
do {
printIndices(indices, 3);
} while (addOne(indices, 3, 3));
return 0;
}
Recursive solution, salvaged from your original code:
#include <iostream>
#include <sstream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
void recursion(int n, const string& prefix);
int main(){
recursion(3, "");
return 0;
}
void recursion(int n, const string& prefix)
{
if (n!=0) {
for(int x=1; x<4; x++){
ostringstream os;
os << prefix << x << ' ';
recursion(n-1, os.str());
}
}
else cout << prefix << endl;
}

Answer 2

Per Igor's comment, you need an increment function.
Let's use an std::vector to represent each dimension. That is vector[0] is the first dimension, vector[1] is the second dimension and so on.
Using a vector allows us to determine the number of dimensions without any hard coded numbers. The vector.size() will be the number of dimensions.
Here is a function to get you started:
void Increment_Coordinate(std::vector<int>& coordinates,
int max_digit_value,
int min_digit_value)
{
unsigned int digit_index = 0;
bool apply_carry = false;
do
{
apply_carry = false;
coordinates[digit_index]++; // Increment the value in a dimension.
if (coordinates[digit_index] > max_digit_value)
{
// Reset the present dimension value
coordinates[digit_index] = min_digit_value;
// Apply carry to next column by moving to the next dimension.
++digit_index;
apply_carry = true;
}
} while (apply_carry);
return;
}
Edit 1
This is only a foundation. The function needs to be boundary checked.
This function does not support dimensions of varying sizes. That is left as an exercise for reader or OP.