from string import * #test = '124212432124' test=str(input('enter a string: ')) digits = [1,2,3,4] firstdig = [0,1,2,3,4] for i in firstdig: for j in digits: for k in digits: for l in digits: pattern = str(int(i*1000 + j*100 + k*10 + l)) result=count(test,pattern) if (result>0): print pattern, ': ', result