rand()

[Anon]

does anyone else have problems with this function?!

$number = rand(1, $count);

is there something wrong with that line? $count is already defined. $number always equals 1. i tried using mt_rand().

$number = mt_rand(1, $count);

$number is always equal to $count.
am i doing something wrong here? any help would be appreciated. thank you.

-phil

[Anon]

you have to seed it first. try this:

mt_srand((double)microtime() * 1000000);
$number = mt_rand(1, $count);

oh, and use mt_rand instead of rand. it is a better randomizer.

[Anon]

thank you! i guess there is still a lot that i have to learn with php!!!

what is seeding? if you dont mind explaining.

-phil

[Anon]

when you want a random number you have to seed the generator. the seed is the initial number the generator runs through a mathmatical function to start producing random numbers. you don't want the seed to always be the same or the numbers won't be random. that is why i and lots of other people use microtime(). after the generator has been seeded, then you can extract random numbers.