random results

[Count_Rugen]

I am new to PHP and would appreciate some assistance...
The problem i am working on involves selecting 3 random results from a search. For example, if a search yields 10 results, how am i able to select 3 of these results randomly?

[nnichols]

SELECT col1, col2, col3 FROM tbl
ORDER BY RAND()
LIMIT 3

This would select 3 random rows matching your query.

Hope this helps 😉

[cgraz]

Just off the top of my head, an easy way to do this may be:

$start = rand(0, 7);

$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM your_table LIMIT $start, 3") or die(mysql_error());

LIMIT x, y will start at record x and return y results.

Cgraz

EDIT: Nevermind, mnichols way is much better. I was even looking at the rand() function earlier. 🙁