Function to find X numbers that add up to a certain value - algorithm

Question

I need a function that finds a variable amount of numbers, which together must add up to a certain value. In this case it is 8.
The numbers which can be added together are predefined in a table, to make things easier.
Current approach: Shuffle the table using a small algorithm, add first X values together, if they don't add up to 8, start over (including shuffling again) until the first X values add up to 8.
My code does work, just 2 problems: It takes a long time to process (obviously) and it can cause a stack overflow error if I don't add a cooldown.
Code can be dirty, it's not for a live production. Also im only an intermediate lua developer at best...
function sleep (a) -- random sleep function I found
local sec = tonumber(os.clock() + a);
while (os.clock() < sec) do
end
end
function shuffle(tbl) -- random shuffle function I found
for i = #tbl, 2, -1 do
math.randomseed( os.time() )
math.random();math.random();math.random();math.random();
local j = math.random(i)
tbl[i], tbl[j] = tbl[j], tbl[i]
end
return tbl
end
local times = {
0.5,
1.0,
1.5,
2.0,
2.5,
3.0,
3.5,
4.0
}
local timeunits = {} --refer to line 49, I did not want to do it like that...
function nnumbersto8(amount)
local sum = 0
local numbs = {}
times = shuffle(times) --reshuffle the set
for i = 1,amount,1 do --add first x values together
sum = sum + times[i]
numbs[i] = times[i]
end
if sum ~= 8 then sleep(0.1) nnumbersto8(amount) return end --if they are not 8, repeat process with cooldown to avoid stack overflow
--return numbs -- This doesn't work for some reason, nothing gets returned outside the function
timeunits = numbs
end
nnumbersto8(5) -- manual run it for now
print(unpack(timeunits))
There must be a simpler way, right?
Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated!

Answer 1

Here is a method that will work for large numbers of elements, and will pick a random solution with theoretically even likelihood for each.
function solution_node (value, count, remainder)
local node = {}
node.value = value
node.count = count
node.remainder = remainder
return node
end
function choose_solutions (node1, node2)
if node1 == nil then
return node2
elseif node2 == nil then
return node1
else
-- Make a random choice of which solution to pick.
if node1.count < math.random(node1.count + node2.count) then
node2.count = node1.count + node2.count
return node2
else
node1.count = node1.count + node2.count
return node1
end
end
end
function decode_solution (node)
if node == nil then
return nil
end
answer = {}
while node.value ~= nil do
table.insert(answer, node.value)
-- This causes the solution to be randomly shuffled.
local i = math.random(#answer)
answer[#answer], answer[i] = answer[i], answer[#answer]
node = node.remainder
end
return answer
end
function random_sum(tbl, count, target)
local choices = {}
-- Normally arrays are not 0-based in Lua but this is very convenient.
for j = 0,count do
choices[j] = {}
end
-- Make sure that the empty set is there.
choices[0][0.0] = solution_node(nil, 1, nil)
for i = 1,#tbl do
for j = count,1,-1 do
for this_sum, node in pairs(choices[j-1]) do
local next_sum = this_sum + tbl[i]
local next_node = solution_node(tbl[i], node.count, node)
-- Try adding this value in to a solution.
if next_sum <= target then
choices[j][next_sum] = choose_solutions(next_node, choices[j][next_sum])
end
end
end
end
return decode_solution(choices[count][target])
end
local times = {
0.2,
0.3,
0.5,
1.0,
1.2,
1.3,
1.5,
2.0,
2.5,
3.0,
3.5,
4.0
}
math.randomseed( os.time() )
local result = random_sum(times, 5, 8.0)
print("answer")
for k, v in pairs(result) do print(v) end
Sorry for my code. I haven't coded in Lua for a few years.

Answer 2

This is the subset sum problem with an extra restriction on the number of elements you are allowed to choose.
The solution is to use Dynamic Programming similar to regular Subset Sum, but add an extra variable that indicates how many items you have used.
This should go something among the lines of:
Failing stop clauses:
DP[-1][x][n] = false, for all x,n>0 // out of elements
DP[i][-1][n] = false, for all i,n>0 // exceeded X items
DP[i][x][n] = false n < 0 // Passed the sum limit. This is an optimization only if all elements are non negative.
Successful stop clause:
DP[i][0][0] = true for all i >= 0
Recursive formula:
DP[i][x][n] = DP[i-1][x][n] OR DP[i-1][x-1][n-item[i]] // Watch for n<item[i] case here.
^ ^
Did not take the item Used the item

Answer 3

There are no solutions for 1, 2 and for values greater than 5, so the function only accepts 3, 4 and 5.
Here we are doing a shallow copy of the times table then we get a random index from the copy and begin searching for the solution, removing values we use as we go.
local times = {
0.5,
1.0,
1.5,
2.0,
2.5,
3.0,
3.5,
4.0
}
function nNumbersTo8(amount)
if amount < 3 or amount > 5 then
return {}
end
local sum = 0
local numbers = {}
local set = {table.unpack(times)}
for i = 1, amount - 1, 1 do
local index = math.random(#set)
local value = set[index]
if not (8 < (sum + value)) then
sum = sum + value
table.insert(numbers, value)
table.remove(set, index)
else
break
end
end
local reminder = 8 - sum
for _,v in ipairs(set)do
if v == reminder then
sum = sum + v
table.insert(numbers, v)
break
end
end
if #numbers == amount then
return numbers
else
return nNumbersTo8(amount)
end
end
for i=1,100 do
print(table.unpack(nNumbersTo8(5)))
end
Example response:
1.5 0.5 3 2 1
3 0.5 1.5 1 2
2 3 1.5 0.5 1
3 2 1.5 1 0.5
0.5 1 2 3 1.5