Forum Discussion
Uncle_Bear
Nov 06, 2025Occasional Reader
How to get all possible permutation in VBA
Hi,
We all know Benjamin Franklins Square.
How can I
- Get VBA to export a spreadsheet with all possible permutations for numbers 1-9.
- Filter out duplicates of the same number
- Filter out only combinations that the sum matches the criteria below
- First 3 digits = 15
- Second 3 digits = 15
- Third 3 digits = 15
- 1st, 4th, 7th = 15
- 2nd, 5th, 8th = 15
- 3rd, 6th, 9th = 15
- 1st, 5th, 9th = 15
- 3rd, 5th, 7th = 15
I hope you are following what I'm trying to do.
Thanks in advance,
Uncle Bear
1 Reply
Take this:
Sub MagicSquarePermutations() Dim nums As Variant nums = Array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Dim results As Collection Set results = New Collection Call Permute(nums, 0, results) ' Output results to sheet Dim ws As Worksheet Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1) ws.Cells.Clear Dim i As Long, arr As Variant i = 1 For Each arr In results ws.Cells(i, 1).Resize(1, 9).Value = arr i = i + 1 Next arr End Sub Sub Permute(nums As Variant, l As Integer, results As Collection) Dim r As Integer If l = UBound(nums) Then If IsMagic(nums) Then results.Add nums Else For r = l To UBound(nums) Swap nums(l), nums(r) Permute nums, l + 1, results Swap nums(l), nums(r) Next r End If End Sub Function IsMagic(nums As Variant) As Boolean IsMagic = _ nums(0) + nums(1) + nums(2) = 15 And _ nums(3) + nums(4) + nums(5) = 15 And _ nums(6) + nums(7) + nums(8) = 15 And _ nums(0) + nums(3) + nums(6) = 15 And _ nums(1) + nums(4) + nums(7) = 15 And _ nums(2) + nums(5) + nums(8) = 15 And _ nums(0) + nums(4) + nums(8) = 15 And _ nums(2) + nums(4) + nums(6) = 15 End Function Sub Swap(a As Variant, b As Variant) Dim tmp As Variant tmp = a: a = b: b = tmp End Sub