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For a given length $n$ and a maximum positive integer value $N$, I'd like to generate a list that contains all $n$-vectors with entries between $-N$ and $N$ (of which there are $(2N+1)^n$. Further, the list should be sorted in such a way that first the element with all zeroes appears, then the elements with a single non-zero entry, then two non-zero entries, and so on. How the elements are ordered within a block with a specific amount of non-zero entries is unimportant.

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  • $\begingroup$ What have you tried so far? Generally, people here appreciate if questions show a minimum level of effort on the askers part. To get you started, take a look at Range, Tuples, SortBy and Count. $\endgroup$
    – Lukas Lang
    Aug 9, 2022 at 10:08
  • $\begingroup$ You surely mean $(2N+1)^n$ not $n^{2N+1}$? $\endgroup$
    – yarchik
    Aug 9, 2022 at 10:10
  • $\begingroup$ @yarchik indeed, thanks, editied $\endgroup$
    – Latrace
    Aug 9, 2022 at 10:12
  • $\begingroup$ @LukasLang I'm stuck in the stage of confusion. I will look at the functions you mention $\endgroup$
    – Latrace
    Aug 9, 2022 at 10:14
  • $\begingroup$ Try to sort Table[IntegerDigits[i, k, n] - ConstantArray[1, n], {i, 0, k^n - 1}]. $\endgroup$
    – yarchik
    Aug 9, 2022 at 10:22

1 Answer 1

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Thanks to LukasLang:

ReverseSortBy[Tuples[Range[-nmax, nmax], n], Count[#, 0] &]

does the job. Here nmax = $N$ from the question.

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    $\begingroup$ This is almost exactly what I had in mind. One minor improvement: You can write Count[0] instead of Count[#, 0]& (this is the third usage form in the documentation of Count) $\endgroup$
    – Lukas Lang
    Aug 9, 2022 at 10:25

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