get random results with SQL

[daarius]

is there any way of getting random result values by doing any SQL.

e.g. i want to get some data from the table, with only 5 rows (randomly)?

thanks,
Daarius...

[Anon]

Regards,

try order by rand ().

S.

[[deleted]]

Note: ORDER BY rand() is only supported in the newst versions of MySQL,
check the manual for more info.

There have been numerous posts about this subject, including work-arounds for older versions of MySQL. Please search before you post.

[juneym]

you can use this kind of trick

$max_record = count the total rows you have in your database;

$max_list = 10; // the max number of random records to be returned.

$begin = rand(0,max_record - $max_list);

then do a

$sql = "SELECT field1,field2 from table WHERE CLAUSE limit $begin,$maxlist";

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This may not actually output random records, but it will seek random position on the database and get 10 (depends on the value of the variable) records onwards.. 🙂

Jun