Given an array, arr[] of N integers, where arr[i] represents the number of distinct characters in the prefix of length (i + 1) of a string S. The task is to find the lexicographically smallest string (if any exists) that satisfies the given prefix array. The string should be of lowercase English alphabets [a-z]. If no such string exists then print -1.
Examples:
Input: arr[] = {1, 1, 2, 3}
Output: aabc
prefix[0] has 1 distinct character
prefix[1] has 1 distinct character
prefix[2] has 2 distinct characters
prefix[3] has 3 distinct characters
And the string is the smallest possible.Input: arr[] = {1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4}
Output: abacadInput: arr[] = {1, 1, 3, 3}
Output: -1
Approach: The first character of every string will always be ‘a’. Since we have to find the lexicographically smallest string. Therefore, if the number of different characters in the prefix of length i and i + 1 is same, then (i+1)th character will be ‘a’ otherwise it will be a different character from all characters in length i and it will be one greater than the greatest character in the prefix of length i.
For example, if prefix array is {1, 2, 2, 3, 4} then the first character will be ‘a’, the second character will be ‘b’ since number of different character is 2 (it can also be ‘c’ or ‘d’, etc but we have to take lexicographically smallest). Third character will be either ‘a’ or ‘b’ but we take ‘a’ since “aba” is smaller than “abb”.
Similarly, fourth and fifth character will be ‘c’ and ‘d’ respectively. Therefore, the resultant string that satisfies the given prefix array will be “abacd”.
Below is the implementation of the above approach:
C++
// C++ implementation of the approach#include <iostream>using namespace std;// Function to return the required stringstring smallestString(int N, int A[]){ // First character will always be 'a' char ch = 'a'; // To store the resultant string string S = ""; // Since length of the string should be // greater than 0 and first element // of array should be 1 if (N < 1 || A[0] != 1) { S = "-1"; return S; } S += ch; ch++; // Check one by one all element of given prefix array for (int i = 1; i < N; i++) { int diff = A[i] - A[i - 1]; // If the difference between any two // consecutive elements of the prefix array // is greater than 1 then there will be no such // string possible that satisfies the given array // Also, string cannot have more than // 26 distinct characters if (diff > 1 || diff < 0 || A[i] > 26) { S = "-1"; return S; } // If difference is 0 then the (i + 1)th character // will be same as the ith character else if (diff == 0) S += 'a'; // If difference is 1 then the (i + 1)th character // will be different from the ith character else { S += ch; ch++; } } // Return the resultant string return S;}// Driver codeint main(){ int arr[] = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 }; int n = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]); cout << smallestString(n, arr); return 0;} |
Java
// Java implementation of the above approach import java.io.*;public class GFG { // Function to return the required string static String smallestString(int N, int []A) { // First character will always be 'a' char ch = 'a'; // To store the resultant string String S = ""; // Since length of the string should be // greater than 0 and first element // of array should be 1 if (N < 1 || A[0] != 1) { S = "-1"; return S; } S += ch; ch++; // Check one by one all element of given prefix array for (int i = 1; i < N; i++) { int diff = A[i] - A[i - 1]; // If the difference between any two // consecutive elements of the prefix array // is greater than 1 then there will be no such // string possible that satisfies the given array // Also, string cannot have more than // 26 distinct characters if (diff > 1 || diff < 0 || A[i] > 26) { S = "-1"; return S; } // If difference is 0 then the (i + 1)th character // will be same as the ith character else if (diff == 0) S += 'a'; // If difference is 1 then the (i + 1)th character // will be different from the ith character else { S += ch; ch++; } } // Return the resultant string return S; } // Driver code public static void main(String args[]) { int []arr = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 }; int n = arr.length; System.out.println(smallestString(n, arr)); } } // This code is contributed by Ryuga |
Python3
# Function to return the required stringdef smallestString(N, A): # First character will always be 'a' ch = 'a' # To store the resultant string S = "" # Since length of the string should be # greater than 0 and first element # of array should be 1 if (N < 1 or A[0] != 1): S = "-1" return S S += str(ch) ch = chr(ord(ch) + 1) # Check one by one all element of # given prefix array for i in range(1, N): diff = A[i] - A[i - 1] # If the difference between any two # consecutive elements of the prefix # array is greater than 1 then there # will be no such string possible that # satisfies the given array. # Also, string cannot have more than # 26 distinct characters if (diff > 1 or diff < 0 or A[i] > 26): S = "-1" return S # If difference is 0 then the # (i + 1)th character will be # same as the ith character elif (diff == 0): S += 'a' # If difference is 1 then the # (i + 1)th character will be # different from the ith character else: S += ch ch = chr(ord(ch) + 1) # Return the resultant string return S# Driver codearr = [1, 1, 2, 3, 3]n = len(arr)print(smallestString(n, arr))# This code is contributed # by mohit kumar |
C#
// C# implementation of the approachusing System;class GFG{ // Function to return the required stringstatic string smallestString(int N, int []A){ // First character will always be 'a' char ch = 'a'; // To store the resultant string string S = ""; // Since length of the string should be // greater than 0 and first element // of array should be 1 if (N < 1 || A[0] != 1) { S = "-1"; return S; } S += ch; ch++; // Check one by one all element of given prefix array for (int i = 1; i < N; i++) { int diff = A[i] - A[i - 1]; // If the difference between any two // consecutive elements of the prefix array // is greater than 1 then there will be no such // string possible that satisfies the given array // Also, string cannot have more than // 26 distinct characters if (diff > 1 || diff < 0 || A[i] > 26) { S = "-1"; return S; } // If difference is 0 then the (i + 1)th character // will be same as the ith character else if (diff == 0) S += 'a'; // If difference is 1 then the (i + 1)th character // will be different from the ith character else { S += ch; ch++; } } // Return the resultant string return S;}// Driver codestatic void Main(){ int []arr = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 }; int n = arr.Length; Console.WriteLine(smallestString(n, arr));}}// This code is contributed by mits |
PHP
<?PHP// PHP implementation of the above approach // Function to return the required string function smallestString($N, $A) { // First character will always be 'a' $ch = 'a'; // To store the resultant string $S = ""; // Since length of the string should be // greater than 0 and first element // of array should be 1 if ($N < 1 || $A[0] != 1) { $S = "-1"; return $S; } $S .= $ch; $ch++; // Check one by one all element of given prefix array for ($i = 1; $i < $N; $i++) { $diff = $A[$i] - $A[$i - 1]; // If the difference between any two // consecutive elements of the prefix array // is greater than 1 then there will be no such // string possible that satisfies the given array // Also, string cannot have more than // 26 distinct characters if ($diff > 1 || $diff < 0 || $A[$i] > 26) { $S = "-1"; return $S; } // If difference is 0 then the (i + 1)th character // will be same as the ith character else if ($diff == 0) $S .= 'a'; // If difference is 1 then the (i + 1)th character // will be different from the ith character else { $S .= $ch; $ch++; } } // Return the resultant string return $S; } // Driver code $arr = array( 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 ); $n = sizeof($arr); echo(smallestString($n, $arr)); // This code is contributed by Code_Mech?> |
Javascript
<script>// Javascript implementation of the approach// Function to return the required stringfunction smallestString(N, A){ // First character will always be 'a' let ch = 'a'; // To store the resultant string let S = ""; // Since length of the string should be // greater than 0 and first element // of array should be 1 if (N < 1 || A[0] != 1) { S = "-1"; return S; } S += ch; ch = String.fromCharCode(ch.charCodeAt(0) + 1); // Check one by one all element of // given prefix array for(let i = 1; i < N; i++) { let diff = A[i] - A[i - 1]; // If the difference between any two // consecutive elements of the prefix // array is greater than 1 then there // will be no such string possible that // satisfies the given array. Also, // string cannot have more than // 26 distinct characters if (diff > 1 || diff < 0 || A[i] > 26) { S = "-1"; return S; } // If difference is 0 then the (i + 1)th // character will be same as the ith character else if (diff == 0) S += 'a'; // If difference is 1 then the (i + 1)th // character will be different from the // ith character else { S += ch; ch = String.fromCharCode( ch.charCodeAt(0) + 1); } } // Return the resultant string return S;}// Driver codelet arr = [ 1, 1, 2, 3, 3 ];let n = arr.length;document.write(smallestString(n, arr));// This code is contributed by souravmahato348</script> |
Output
aabca
Time Complexity: O(n)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)
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