Best strategy for finding a pattern in a sequence of integers

[Mensanator]

On Nov 21, 9:13 am, Slaunger <Slaun... at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am a Python novice, and I have run into a problem in a project I am
> working on, which boils down to identifying the patterns in a sequence
> of integers, for example
>
> .... 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 9 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 10 6 6
> 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 9 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 10 6 6
> 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 9 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 10 6 6
> 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 9 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0 10 6 6
> 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 6 6 1 ...
>
> I want to process this such that I get out two patterns, like:
> (9, 3, 3, 0, 3, 3, 0, 3, 3, 0, 3, 3, 0)
> and
> (10, 6, 6, 1, 6, 6, 1, 6, 6, 1, 6, 6, 1, 6, 6, 1, 6, 6, 1, 6, 6, 1)
>
> I am pretty sure I can figure out how to do that, but I would like to
> have some guidance on the most pythonic approach to this.
>
> Two paths I have considered is:
> 1. Convert the sequence of integers to a hex string, i.e., "...
> 16616616616616619330330330330A66166..." and use the re module to find
> the patterns. Use the string positions to go back to the sequence
> 2. Put them in a list or an array and manually look for the patterns
> by iterating and filtering the elements compare with sets.
>
> I am not looking for a "solution" to this specific problem, just some
> guidance

Your rules appear to be incomplete and inconsistent.

>
> The rules for the sequence is:
> 1. The sequence may start in the middle of a pattern
> 2. There are one or two patterns, Pattern A and Pattern B in the
> sequence
> 3. Pattern A only consists of the numbers 0, 3, and 9. 3, 3 is always
> followed by 0

But does a 3 always follow a 3? Can you have 3, 0, 3, 0?
Can 0's occur without 3's, such as 0, 0, 0?

> 4. Pattern B only consists of the numbers 1, 6, and 10. 6, 6, is
> always followed by 1
> 5. There may be other numbers interspersed within the sequence, but
> they can be ignored

So, I can have 3, 3, 0, 7, 3, 3, 0?

What if the 7 occurs after the pair of 3's? Is the number following
the 7 forced to be 0, i.e., is 3, 3, 7, 3, 3, 0 legal?

> 6. The relative position of 9 or 10 in the patterns varies from case
> to case, but is consistent throughout a sequence.
> 7. There is always one 9 or one 10 in a pattern
> 7. The beginning of a pattern is marked by the transision from oner
> pattern to the other.

Can there be an ignored number between the patterns? Is
9,3,3,0,7,10,6,6,1
legal? If NO, you violate Rule 5. If YES, you violate the second Rule
7.

> 8. If there is only one pattern in the sequence, the pattern beginning
> is marked by the first occurance of either 9 or 10
> 9. The pattern is repetitive in the sequence,
> e.g., ...ABABABAB..., ...AAA..., or ...BBB...
>
> Thank you,
> -- Slaunger