I have the following list :
list_test = [0,0,0,1,0,2,5,4,0,0,5,5,3,0,0]
I would like to find the indices of all the first numbers in the list that are not equal to zero.
In this case the output should be:
output = [3,5,10]
Is there a Pythonic way to do this?
According to the output, I think you want the first index of continuous non-zero sequences.
As for Pythonic, I understand it as list generator, while it's poorly readable.
# works with starting with non-zero element.
# list_test = [1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 5, 4, 0, 0, 5, 5, 3, 0, 0]
list_test = [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 5, 4, 0, 0, 5, 5, 3, 0, 0]
output = [i for i in range(len(list_test)) if list_test[i] != 0 and (i == 0 or list_test[i - 1] == 0)]
print(output)
There is also a numpy based solution:
import numpy as np
l = np.array([0,0,0,1,0,2,5,4,0,0,5,5,3,0,0])
non_zeros = np.where(l != 0)[0]
diff = np.diff(non_zeros)
np.append(non_zeros [0], non_zeros [1 + np.where(diff>=2)[0]]) # array([ 3, 5, 10], dtype=int64)
Explanation:
First, we find the non-zero places, then we calculate the pair differences of those position (we need to add 1 because its out[i] = a[i+1] - a[i], read more about np.diff) then we need to add the first element of non-zero and also all the values where the difference was greater then 1)
Note:
It will also work for the case where the array start with non-zero element or all non-zeros.
From the Link.
l = [0,0,0,1,0,2,5,4,0,0,5,5,3,0,0]
v = {}
for i, x in enumerate(l):
if x != 0 and x not in v:
v[x] = i
list_test = [0,0,0,1,0,2,5,4,0,0,5,5,3,0,0]
res = {}
for index, item in enumerate(list_test):
if item > 0:
res.setdefault(index, None)
print(res.keys())
I don't knwo what you mean by Pythonic way, but this is an answer using a simple loop:
list_test = [0,0,0,1,0,2,5,4,0,0,5,5,3,0,0]
out = []
if list_test[0] == 0:
out.append(0)
for i in range(1, len(list_test)):
if (list_test[i-1] == 0) and (list_test[i] != 0):
out.append(i)
Don't hesitate to precise what you mean by "Pythonic" !
Related
Say I am iterating through a list. I want to check if the list's neighbours (i-1 and i+1) contain a certain element. How do I do this without running into "list index out of range" problem?
Example:
list = [1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0]
for i, j in enumerate(list):
elements = 0
for m in range(i-1,i+2):
if list[m] == 1:
elements += 1
print(list[i], elements)
How do I set boundaries for the range function, so that it doesn't go below 0 and above len(list)?
If you want to iterate for all elements in the target list, one solution is to check the value of second for loop:
_list = [1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0]
elements = 0
for i, j in enumerate(_list):
for m in range(max(i-1, 0), min(i+2, len(_list))):
if _list[m] == 1:
elements += 1
Try slicing list from the top and bottom
list = [1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0]
elements = 0
# slice list and start from second element and finish at the penultimate element
for i, j in enumerate(list[1:-1], 1):
for m in range(i-1,i+2):
if list[m] == 1:
elements += 1
or since you don't use list items in the outer loop, loop over range
elements = 0
# start from the second index and finish at the penultimate index
for i in range(1, len(list)-1):
for m in range(i-1,i+2):
if list[m] == 1:
elements += 1
Sounds like you want to use a window function. I got this somewhere here and have been using it over the years:
from typing import Generator
from itertools import islice
def window(seq, n: int = 2) -> Generator:
"""
Returns a sliding window (of width n) over data from the iterable
"""
it = iter(seq)
result = tuple(islice(it, n))
if len(result) == n:
yield result
for elem in it:
result = result[1:] + (elem,)
yield result
mylist = [1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 5]
for chunk in window(mylist, n=3):
print(chunk)
This will give you :
(1, 0, 1)
(0, 1, 0)
(1, 0, 1)
(0, 1, 0)
(1, 0, 5)
Where you can compare the contents of the resulting 'window' however you like.
I am trying to write a simple function to find if 0,0,1 occurs in a list, in that order.
It should return True or False.
The list can contain any number of numbers.
For the function ZeroZeroOne examples would be as follows:
>> ZeroZeroOne( [0,0,1] )
>> True
>> ZeroZeroOne( [1,0,0] )
>> False
# there are 2s in between but the following does have 0,0,1 occurring and in correct order
>> ZeroZeroOne( [0,2,2,2,2,0,1] )
>> True
I have this function:
def ZeroZeroOne(nums):
FoundIt = False
#quick return if defo not possible
if (nums.count(0) < 2) and (nums.count(1) == 0):
return FoundIt
n = len(nums)
for x in range(n-2):
if nums[x] == 0:
for i,z in enumerate(nums[(x+1):]):
if z==0 and z!=1:
for j,q in enumerate(nums[(i+1):]):
if q==1 and q!=0:
FoundIt=True
return FoundIt
Why does the function return True for this list [0, 1, 0, 2, 1]?
Moreover....
This function seems overly-complex for a seemingly simple problem.
Is there a correct approach to this problem in Python - a canonical or Pythonic approach?
Or is ones approach simply opinion-based?
You can trivially modify the ordered subsequence test from this answer for an elegant solution:
def ZeroZeroOne(arr):
test = iter(a for a in arr if a in (0, 1))
return all(z in test for z in (0, 0, 1))
I realize now that you don't want to accept 0, 1 0, 1.
You can use itertools.tee to check for a match:
def ZeroZeroOne(arr):
e = itertools.tee((a for a in arr if a in (0, 1)), 3)
# move second iterator forward one
next(e[1])
# move third iterator forward two
next(e[2])
next(e[2])
return (0, 0, 1) in zip(*e)
The nice thing about using tee in this case is that it effectively maintains a rolling buffer of the last three elements for you. You don't need to make a new slice or loop over indices it anything like that.
Just for fun, here's a more general solution in pure python. It accepts any iterable for arr and template:
def contains_template(arr, template):
template = tuple(template)
unique = set(template)
filtered = (a for a in arr if a in unique)
e = itertools.tee(filtered, len(template))
for n, it in enumerate(e):
for _ in range(n):
next(it)
return template in zip(*e)
While itertools.tee is a nice way to maintain a rolling buffer, you can implement the same thing using a list (or more efficiently, collections.deque):
def contains_template(arr, template):
template = list(template)
unique = set(template)
filtered = (a for a in arr if a in unique)
buffer = [next(filtered) for _ in range(len(template) - 1)]
buffer.insert(0, None)
for e in filtered:
buffer.pop(0)
buffer.append(e)
if template == buffer:
return True
return False
Finally, here is the really simple solution, without a rolling buffer:
def contains_template(arr, template):
template = list(template)
n = len(template)
unique = set(template)
filtered = [a for a in arr if a in unique]
return any(filtered[i:i + n] == template for i in range(len(filtered) - n))
You can also do it with a recursive function :
def check(seq, liste, i=0, j=0):
if i >= len(seq):
return True
if j >= len(liste):
return False
if seq[i] == liste[j]:
return check(seq, liste, i + 1, j + 1)
elif liste[j] in seq:
# look for the last index you can restart from
for k in range(i - 1, -1, -1):
if seq[k] == liste[j]:
if seq[:k] == seq[i - k:i]:
ind = k
break
else:
ind = 0
return check(seq, liste, ind, j + (not i))
else:
return check(seq, liste, i, j + 1)
# seq = [0,0,1] for ZeroZeroOne
print(check([0, 0, 1], [0, 0, 0, 0, 1])) # True
print(check([0, 0, 1], [0, 200, 0, 0, 101, 1])) # True
print(check([0, 2, 2, 0, 1], [0, 2, 0, 4, 2, 5, 2, 0, 3, 1])) # True
print(check([0, 2, 2, 0, 1], [0, 2, 4, 2, 5, 2, 0, 3, 1])) # False
You can achieve this with a single loop - O(n) time complexity. Since it is for this specific case. Try the code below.
def ZeroZeroOne(nums):
found_pattern = []
for num in nums:
if num == 1:
found_pattern.append(1)
if len(found_pattern) == 3:
return True
else:
found_pattern = []
elif num == 0 and len(found_pattern) < 2:
found_pattern.append(0)
return False
print(ZeroZeroOne([0, 0, 1]))
print(ZeroZeroOne([0, 1, 0, 2, 1]))
print(ZeroZeroOne([0, 2, 0, 1]))
print(ZeroZeroOne([0, 0, 0, 1]))
print(ZeroZeroOne([0, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0, 1]))
But I think you can generalize this as well if required. Probably you need to look in to how grep works and modify it for your use case if you want a generic approach.
I think this does what you want :)
def ZeroZeroOne(arr):
dropped = [x for x in arr if x==0 or x==1]
slices = [dropped[i:i+3] for i in range(len(dropped)-2)]
if [0,0,1] in slices: return True
else: return False
def ZeroZeroOne(nums):
filtered_nums = [x for x in nums if x in [0,1]]
return '*'.join([str(x) for x in [0,0,1]) in '*'.join([str(x) for x in filtered_nums])
I have a list named x, I would like to fill the zero data with previous value, which means:
x = [x[t]=x[t-1] if x[t] == 0.0 for t in range(1,len(x)-2)]
But it displayed: SyntaxError: invalid syntax
I'm wondering where is wrong with my code? Thanks a lot.
It's your assignment x[t] = x[t-1]. Instead just use a for loop:
for t in range(1, len(x)-1):
if x[t] == 0:
x[t] = x[t-1]
Although it would probably be considered more Pythonic to use enumerate to do this:
for idx, val in enumerate(x):
if idx==0: continue # skip the first element
if val == 0:
x[idx] = x[idx-1]
# DEMO
In [1]: x = [1,0,3,0,4,0,5,0]
In [2]: for idx,val in enumerate(x):
...: if idx==0: continue
...: if val == 0:
...: x[idx] = x[idx-1]
...:
In [3]: x
Out[3]: [1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5]
You could also make this work with a list comp by implementing a pairwise iterator
from itertools import tee
def pairwise(iterable):
a,b = tee(iterable)
next(b) # advance one iterator
return zip(a,b)
x = [x[0]] + [val if val else lastval for lastval,val in pairwise(x)]
We need to specifically add the first element since the pairwise iterator skips it. Alternatively we could define pairwise differently, e.g.
def pairwise(iterable):
iterable = itertools.chain([None], iterable)
a,b = itertools.tee(iterable)
next(b)
return zip(a,b)
x = [val if val else lastval for lastval,val in pairwise(x)]
# ta-da!
Here's a list comprehension to do what you require:
x = [xi if xi or i==0 else x[i-1]
for i, xi in enumerate(x)]
For full forward and backward filling (backwards in case non found before), the following will give you a filled element even if the element before it is zero:
# ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨
x = [ 0, 1, 2, 0, 3, 5, 0, 0, 0, 9, 0 ]
y = []
for i,e in enumerate(x):
if e == 0:
# search left, get first non zero
for left_e in reversed(x[:i]):
if left_e != 0:
e = left_e
break
# backward fill if all elements on the left are zeros
if e == 0:
# search right, get first non zero
for right_e in x[i+1:]:
if right_e != 0:
e = right_e
break
y.append(e)
print(y)
# [1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 9, 9]
If you want forward filling with looking only at one the previous element then Alex's answers suffice.
You can also use a simpler method next():
x = [ 0, 1, 2, 0, 3, 5, 0, 0, 0, 9, 0 ]
y = []
for i,e in enumerate(x):
if e == 0:
e = next((item for item in x[i:] if item != 0), e)
e = next((item for item in reversed(x[:i]) if item != 0), e)
y.append(e)
print(y)
# [1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 9, 9]
Lets assume you have a list with y poisitions (0 for sake of this question). If y = 10:
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
You want to fill adjacent positions up to a given value x and append it to an empty list. If x = 4:
[[1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0], [0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0], [0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0], ... , [0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1]]
I made that occur through this function:
def permutations(number=4, limit=10):
perms = []
if type(number) == int:
a = -1
b = a + number
while b < limit:
a+=1
b = a + number
start = [0 for x in range(limit)]
for i in range(a, b):
start[i] = 1
perms.append(start)
This is fine, but if I want to do the same thing, but pass a tuple instead of an integer I'd like the output to be:
if number = (4,3):
[[1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0,0], [1,1,1,1,0,0,1,1,1,0], [1,1,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,1],
[0,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0], [0,1,1,1,1,0,0,1,1,1],
[0,0,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1]]
The 0 between the two groupings of 1's is necessary the first value of the tuple corresponds to the number of 1's in the first grouping, and the second value of the tuple corresponds to the number of 1's in the second grouping. Ideally this function would work with tuples that have more than 2 values.
This idea is a little challenging to get across so please let me know if you need any clarification.
Thank you for your help!
The simplest approach I can think of is to generate all possible combinations of 1 and 0, and filter out all of the ones that don't have the right grouping lengths.
import itertools
def permutations(tup, limit=10):
for candidate in itertools.product([0,1], repeat=limit):
segment_lengths = [len(list(b)) for a,b in itertools.groupby(candidate) if a == 1]
if tup == tuple(segment_lengths):
yield candidate
for seq in permutations((4, 3), 10):
print seq
Result:
(0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1)
(0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1)
(0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0)
(1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1)
(1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0)
(1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0)
Note that this is very slow for large values of limit - it has to evaluate 2^limit candidate sequences. Not bad for limit = 10; only 1024 candidates need to be evaluated. But it quickly grows into the millions and beyond for larger limits.
Edit: Inspired by user2097159's excellent comment, here's an approach with better run time.
import itertools
"""Finds all non-negative integer sequences whose sum equals `total`, and who have `size` elements."""
def possible_sums(total, size):
if total == 0:
yield [0]*size
return
if size == 1:
yield [total]
return
for i in range(total+1):
left = [i]
for right in possible_sums(total-i, size-1):
yield left + right
"""
combines two lists a and b in order like:
[a[0], b[0], a[1], b[1]...]
"""
def interleave(a,b):
result = []
for pair in itertools.izip_longest(a,b):
for item in pair:
if item is not None:
result.append(item)
return result
"""flattens a list of lists into a one dimensional list"""
def flatten(seq):
return [x for item in seq for x in item]
def permutations(tup, limit):
one_segments = [[1]*size for size in tup]
for i in range(len(tup)-1):
one_segments[i].append(0)
remaining_zeroes = limit - sum(tup) - len(tup) + 1
assert remaining_zeroes >= 0, "not enough room to separate ranges!"
for gap_sizes in possible_sums(remaining_zeroes, len(tup)+1):
zero_segments = [[0]*size for size in gap_sizes]
yield flatten(interleave(zero_segments, one_segments))
for seq in permutations((4, 3), 10):
print seq
You can generate all list recursively.
F(tup, limit) =
[1, 1, ...1, 0] combine with all solutions of F(tup[1:], limit - len(tup[1]) - 1)
[0, 1 ,1 , ... 1, 0] combine with all solutions of F(tup[1:], limit - len(tup[1]) - 2)
.
.
.
if tup is empty return a list of zero
if sum(tup) + len(tup) - 1 > limit, return an empty list since there is no solution.
e.g. permutations((4,3,2), 10) shall return []
Otherwise, enumerating how many prefix zero there will be:
Generate prefix list which is [0, 0, 0 .. 0, 1, 1, ... 1, 0] The number of 1s is the value of first item in the tuple. Append additional 0 if it's not the last item of the tuple.
Call the function recursively for the rest element in the tuple to solve the similar sub-problem
Combine the prefix list with each solution of the sub-problem
Here is the code:
def permutations(tup, limit=100):
if len(tup) <= 0:
return [[0] * limit]
minimum_len = sum(tup) + len(tup) - 1
if minimum_len > limit:
return []
perms = []
for prefix_zero in range(0, limit - minimum_len + 1):
prefix = [0] * prefix_zero + [1] * tup[0]
if len(tup) > 1:
prefix += [0]
suffix_list = permutations(tup[1:], limit - len(prefix))
perms += [prefix + suffix for suffix in suffix_list] #combine the solutions
return perms
This solution creates all permutations of blocks of ones (a list defined by each entry in the tuple) with blocks of zeros (lists of length one) for the extra padding.
import itertools as it
spec = (1,2,3)
nBlocks = len(spec)
nZeros = 5
totalSize = sum(spec) + nZeros+1-nBlocks
blocks = [[1,]*s + [0,] for s in spec]
zeros = [[0,],]*(nZeros+1-nBlocks)
a = list(it.permutations(blocks + zeros, nZeros+1))
b = [list(it.chain.from_iterable(l))[:-1] for l in a]
for l in b:
print l
Without using itertools.
My shot at this, should be fairly quick, but uses a recursive generator (python recursion depth limit, here I come...).
# simple test case
seqs = (1, 2, 3)
length = 10
# '0' spots count
zeros = length - (sum(seqs))
# partitions count
partitions = len(seqs) + 1
# first and last can partitions have 0 zeros
# so use a flag when we call the function or check if it's the last partition
def generate_gaps(zeros_left, partition, first=False):
"""
:param zeros_left: how many zeros we can still use
:param partition: what partition is this
:param first: is this the first gap
:return: all possible gaps
"""
for gap in range((0 if first or partition == 0 else 1), zeros_left + 1):
if partition == 0:
if (zeros_left - gap) == 0:
yield [gap]
else:
for rest in generate_gaps(zeros_left - gap, partition - 1):
yield [gap] + rest
for gaps in generate_gaps(zeros, partitions - 1, True):
print "using gaps: " + str(gaps)
# merge lists
# zip gaps (0's) and sequences (1's) - all but last gap (added to result)
gaps_seqs = zip(gaps, seqs)
# expand everything... magic (could be done explicitly trivially).
result = sum(map(lambda x: [0] * x[0] + [1] * x[1], gaps_seqs)
# last gap (truncated from zip)
result = result + [[0] * gaps[-1]], [])
A simple non-recursive generator solution without itertools:
def fill_sequence(sequence, size):
n_slots = size - len(sequence)
for start in xrange(n_slots + 1):
yield [0]*start + sequence + [0]*(n_slots - start)
def all_placements(inner_sizes, outer_size):
x, y = inner_sizes
for margin in xrange(1, outer_size - sum(block_sizes) + 1):
sequence = [1]*x + [0]*margin + [1]*y
for p in fill_sequence(sequence, outer_size):
yield p
So that:
>>> list(all_placements((4,3), 10))
[[1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0],
[0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0],
[0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0],
[0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1]]
The idea is quite simple. Suppose you fix the number of zeros between your two blocks of ones, call it the margin. This gives you a 4 + margin + 3 sequence. You can easily place this sequence in the larger list of zeros using the approach you took in your post. Then simply iteratively increase the margin, yielding all possible placements.
Given a list of data as follows:
input = [1,1,1,1,5,5,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,5,5]
I would like to create an algorithm that is able to offset the list of certain number of steps. For example, if the offset = -1:
def offsetFunc(inputList, offsetList):
#make something
return output
where:
output = [0,0,0,0,1,1,5,5,5,5,5,5,3,3,3,2,2]
Important Note: The elements of the list are float numbers and they are not in any progression. So I actually need to shift them, I cannot use any work-around for getting the result.
So basically, the algorithm should replace the first set of values (the 4 "1", basically) with the 0 and then it should:
Detect the lenght of the next range of values
Create a parallel output vectors with the values delayed by one set
The way I have roughly described the algorithm above is how I would do it. However I'm a newbie to Python (and even beginner in general programming) and I have figured out time by time that Python has a lot of built-in functions that could make the algorithm less heavy and iterating. Does anyone have any suggestion to better develop a script to make this kind of job? This is the code I have written so far (assuming a static offset at -1):
input = [1,1,1,1,5,5,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,5,5]
output = []
PrevVal = 0
NextVal = input[0]
i = 0
while input[i] == NextVal:
output.append(PrevVal)
i += 1
while i < len(input):
PrevVal = NextVal
NextVal = input[i]
while input[i] == NextVal:
output.append(PrevVal)
i += 1
if i >= len(input):
break
print output
Thanks in advance for any help!
BETTER DESCRIPTION
My list will always be composed of "sets" of values. They are usually float numbers, and they take values such as this short example below:
Sample = [1.236,1.236,1.236,1.236,1.863,1.863,1.863,1.863,1.863,1.863]
In this example, the first set (the one with value "1.236") is long 4 while the second one is long 6. What I would like to get as an output, when the offset = -1, is:
The value "0.000" in the first 4 elements;
The value "1.236" in the second 6 elements.
So basically, this "offset" function is creating the list with the same "structure" (ranges of lengths) but with the values delayed by "offset" times.
I hope it's clear now, unfortunately the problem itself is still a bit silly to me (plus I don't even speak good English :) )
Please don't hesitate to ask any additional info to complete the question and make it clearer.
How about this:
def generateOutput(input, value=0, offset=-1):
values = []
for i in range(len(input)):
if i < 1 or input[i] == input[i-1]:
yield value
else: # value change in input detected
values.append(input[i-1])
if len(values) >= -offset:
value = values.pop(0)
yield value
input = [1,1,1,1,5,5,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,5,5]
print list(generateOutput(input))
It will print this:
[0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2]
And in case you just want to iterate, you do not even need to build the list. Just use for i in generateOutput(input): … then.
For other offsets, use this:
print list(generateOutput(input, 0, -2))
prints:
[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3]
Using deque as the queue, and using maxlen to define the shift length. Only holding unique values. pushing inn new values at the end, pushes out old values at the start of the queue, when the shift length has been reached.
from collections import deque
def shift(it, shift=1):
q = deque(maxlen=shift+1)
q.append(0)
for i in it:
if q[-1] != i:
q.append(i)
yield q[0]
Sample = [1.236,1.236,1.236,1.236,1.863,1.863,1.863,1.863,1.863,1.863]
print list(shift(Sample))
#[0, 0, 0, 0, 1.236, 1.236, 1.236, 1.236, 1.236, 1.236]
My try:
#Input
input = [1,1,1,1,5,5,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,5,5]
shift = -1
#Build service structures: for each 'set of data' store its length and its value
set_lengths = []
set_values = []
prev_value = None
set_length = 0
for value in input:
if prev_value is not None and value != prev_value:
set_lengths.append(set_length)
set_values.append(prev_value)
set_length = 0
set_length += 1
prev_value = value
else:
set_lengths.append(set_length)
set_values.append(prev_value)
#Output the result, shifting the values
output = []
for i, l in enumerate(set_lengths):
j = i + shift
if j < 0:
output += [0] * l
else:
output += [set_values[j]] * l
print input
print output
gives:
[1, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 5, 5]
[0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2]
def x(list, offset):
return [el + offset for el in list]
A completely different approach than my first answer is this:
import itertools
First analyze the input:
values, amounts = zip(*((n, len(list(g))) for n, g in itertools.groupby(input)))
We now have (1, 5, 3, 2, 5) and (4, 2, 6, 3, 2). Now apply the offset:
values = (0,) * (-offset) + values # nevermind that it is longer now.
And synthesize it again:
output = sum([ [v] * a for v, a in zip(values, amounts) ], [])
This is way more elegant, way less understandable and probably way more expensive than my other answer, but I didn't want to hide it from you.