Account Number generator

[Anon]

Hi all,

I am looking for a generic account number generator (all numbers) that has a check-digit as part of the account number.

I don't want to use sequence numbers (generated by most SQL RDBMS) as much as possible.

Would appreciate an algorithm or pseudo-code using PHP functions.

Thanks!

[[deleted]]

What's wrong wth sequence numbers? :-)

You could use a simple random-number generator and pick numbers untill you get one that is not in use already. Not a very elegant way, sequences are easier.

[Anon]

An account number implies sparseness and diversity so that a valid account number cannot be easily guessed, so yes sequence numbers will definitely not work.

Random numbers would be perfect for you use, provided you take samples from a pool that is much larger than the number of users you expect to have. Elementary statistics will tell you the probability of a duplicate everytime you search for a new number.

You can use the standard mod-10 number verification that is used by most credit cards. It won't prevent the user from making up invalid account numbers, but will reduce the chance of someone typing in an incorrect one.