arrays, stuff .....

Anon

I need to extract info from an array, using an randomized index.

srand ();
$rand = rand () % 10;
$array[] = $original_array[$rand];

So, what I need in this, is to make all numbers/indexes that have already been fetched, unacessible from outside.

Like. if you get 3, and therefor $rand[3], but 3 has already been sorted in one previous fetch, it doesn't fetch 3, just goes into fetching another one. If that one is also already fetched.. do it again.
I could run a loop, and do another rand, but if the thing is already fetched again, I don't know. I'm lost.....

Anon

I've solved it like this:

Putten an while with a boolean variable.

while (!$order) {
if ( $a_orig[$rand][sent] == '') {
$a_orig[$rand][sent] = "yes";
$order = True;
return $a_orig [ $rand ];
}
}

And added 'field' 'sent' to the array.

Is this a good idea ?

Anon

somehow it doens't work.

I tough it would. Any other ideas?

I've putten a debug aid in the code .....

echo $a_orig[$rand][sent], "<br>";
before $order = true;

and the result is fine:

yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
9
8
7
8
10

but some of the values are the same. [ look at the * ]Maybe it aint changing thinks out of the loop. Ideas?

Anon

i don't understand what you are trying to do.. =/

matto

$already_fetched = array();

while(hasalreadybeenfetched($rand))
{
srand();
$rand = rand () % 10;
}

// rand now contains a fresh, unused array index.

function hasalreadybeenfetched($number)
{
if(in_array($already_fetched, $number))
{
return true;
}
else
{
array_push($already_fetched, $number);
return false;
}
}

matto

I forgot:
in the function, first of all do:

global $already_fetched;

Anon

I have two arrays.

One is filled with data ( in exemple: numbers ).
The other is empty.

I want to generate a random position in order to acess $orig_array wich is the one with data. With that position, I'll acess the array and asign the value in that array position to a new postion in the $target_array.

something like

$random_number = rand ( ) % 10;

$target_array[] = $orig_array[$random_number]

Okay?

So, now, the problem is... the rand can generate the same number twice, wich means that the $orig_array would have duplicate values.
So what I want, is to do something that allows me to ONLY FETCH values in positions that have no been fetched.
matto has already given an idea, so, I just posted this so that you, and whoever cares, can understand what I was trying to do.

Anon

Thanks for your idea

🙂