Random generator fault?

[jrmg]

I am using the following code to generate a random username, but it sometimes generates a blank, such as abcd1 34. This is a problem because the username name is used to create a new URL.

I need to ensure the username contains no blanks and only letters (abc...z) and numbers (123...9)?

Any thoughts? JR

/
Calculate random username
/
if ( $type_address =="P" ) {
mt_srand((double)microtime() 10000000);
$number_id = mt_rand(1,9999);
$tempstring = substr($first_name,0,2);
$username = $tempstring . substr($last_name,0,2). $number_id;
$username = strtolower($username);
}
if ( $type_address =="B" ) {
mt_srand((double)microtime() * 10000000);
$number_id = mt_rand(1,999);
$tempstring = substr($company,0,3);
$username = $tempstring . substr($last_name,0,3). $number_id;
$username = strtolower($username);
}

$company = escapeshellcmd($company);

[the_Igel]

run preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9]/i', '', $string) on your resulting $string.

[jrmg]

Thanks for your help - I am a novice and don't understand how to do what you have told me to do - Would you please provide an example? I have attached the full code for you, to be sure. Thanks, Jerome

[the_Igel]

say, you have $variable, that contains some chars except alphanumeric, and you want to remove them from the string.
then you put this line in your code:

$variable = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9]/i', '', $variable);

It will remove all no-alphanumeric characters from the $variable.

for further details look for Regular Expressions .

[jrmg]

Thanks again - I have done some research and I think I have done this correctly. If so, how can I test this - It works with my modifications but I don't know if it is working, as the problem is random?

/
Calculate random username
/
if ( $type_address =="P" ) {
mt_srand((double)microtime() 10000000);
$number_id = mt_rand(1,9999);
$tempstring = substr($first_name,0,2);
$username = $tempstring . substr($last_name,0,2). $number_id;
$username = strtolower($username);
$username = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9]/i', '', $username);
}
if ( $type_address =="B" ) {
mt_srand((double)microtime() * 10000000);
$number_id = mt_rand(1,999);
$tempstring = substr($company,0,3);
$username = $tempstring . substr($last_name,0,3). $number_id;
$username = strtolower($username);
$username = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9]/i', '', $username);
}

$company = escapeshellcmd($company);

[the_Igel]

Should work.

[jrmg]

Thanks for your help and patience, JR