Permutations

Normally BoxPacker will try and make smart choice(s) of box when building a packing solution that minimise the both the number used and also their size (see Sortation). This is usually the most optimal arrangement from a logistical point of view, both for efficiency and for shipping cost. Supplying custom sorters as outlined on that page allow you to influence those decisions if needed.

You may however wish for BoxPacker to not make any of these decisions, but simply have it calculate all[1] of the possible combinations of box for you to then filter/select inside your own application. You can do this by calling packAllPermutations() on Packer instead of pack():

<?php
    use DVDoug\BoxPacker\Packer;
    use DVDoug\BoxPacker\Test\TestBox;  // use your own `Box` implementation
    use DVDoug\BoxPacker\Test\TestItem; // use your own `Item` implementation

    $packer = new Packer();

    $packer->addBox(new TestBox('Light box', 100, 100, 100, 1, 100, 100, 100, 100));
    $packer->addBox(new TestBox('Heavy box', 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 10000));

    $packer->addItem(new TestItem('Item 1', 100, 100, 100, 75, Rotation::BestFit));
    $packer->addItem(new TestItem('Item 2', 100, 100, 100, 75, Rotation::BestFit));
    $packer->addItem(new TestItem('Item 3', 100, 100, 100, 75, Rotation::BestFit));

    $permutations = $packer->packAllPermutations(); // an array of PackedBoxList objects

Warning

Although the regular pack() does evaluate multiple permutations when calculating its result, it is also able to use various optimisation techniques to reduce this to a minimum. By definition, packAllPermutations() cannot take advantage of these, and the number of permutations can easily become very large with corresponding impacts on runtime. Be absolutely sure you want to use this method, rather than use a custom sorter.

Footnotes