Pertaining your comment requiring combinations of length two:
string s = "abcde";
var combinations = from c in s
from d in s.Remove(s.IndexOf(c), 1)
select new string(new[] { c, d });
foreach (var combination in combinations) {
Console.WriteLine(combination);
}
Responding to your edit for any length:
static IEnumerable<string> GetCombinations(string s, int length) {
Guard.Against<ArgumentNullException>(s == null);
if (length > s.Length || length == 0) {
return new[] { String.Empty };
if (length == 1) {
return s.Select(c => new string(new[] { c }));
}
return from c in s
from combination in GetCombinations(
s.Remove(s.IndexOf(c), 1),
length - 1
)
select c + combination;
}
Usage:
string s = "abcde";
var combinations = GetCombinations(s, 3);
Console.WriteLine(String.Join(", ", combinations));
Output:
abc, abd, abe, acb, acd, ace, adb, adc, ade, aeb, aec, aed, bac, bad, bae, bca,
bcd, bce, bda, bdc, bde, bea, bec, bed, cab, cad, cae, cba, cbd, cbe, cda, cdb,
cde, cea, ceb, ced, dab, dac, dae, dba, dbc, dbe, dca, dcb, dce, dea, deb, dec,
eab, eac, ead, eba, ebc, ebd, eca, ecb, ecd, eda, edb, edc