Help with rand() plz..

tommychi

Hi i was just browsing php.net and came across the rand() command and i have one question:
the thing is, i want to display 6 images. I want these 6 images to be randomized and then displayed in a RANDOM order. I do not want the same image to display more than once but i just want to randomize the order in which they display. If anyone can help me with this, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

E.g.
lets say i have images a,b,c,d,e,f
i want them to display in RANDOM order each time i refresh so its like:

a,c,e,f,b,d OR
c,e,b,a,d,f OR
e,b,a,c,f,d and etc...

Once again, i do not want it to display the same image twice.

laserlight

In this case it might be better to use array_rand() on an array of the image's paths.

tommychi

wow thnx! i got it to work... But there's just one thing. Is there any way to make it so if the user first enters the site, the images apear in a certain order i make it, but when they start refreshing from that point on, it randomizes?
For example:
When user enters site order is: A, B, C, D, E, F

BUT

Once the user refreshes from that point on, the random command comes into play and then it goes:

a,c,e,f,b,d OR
c,e,b,a,d,f OR
e,b,a,c,f,d and etc...

jimson

<?php
$images = array();

$i = 0;
while( sizeof( $images ) != 6 ) {
	$randomImages = rand( 1, 6 );
	if( !in_array( $randomImages, $images ) ) {
		$images[$i] = $randomImages;
		$i++;
	}
}

print_r( $images );
?>

so, you will get unique combination of 1,2,3,4,5,6 everytime you try to refresh your page.... 😃 i mimic the abcdef with 123456...

anyway, don't copy and paste ... try to understand the logic of it and of course you can question me why i solve it this way... 🙂 and I challege you to provide another solution... he he he, so that you learn ...

tommychi

i got the random thingy in different order to work but how would i get a fixed order, lets say 1,2,3,4,5,6 when the user FIRST enters the site.. The random order command would then be called after the first visit. Im guessing it has to do with cookies?

jimson

you need to understand the cookie or session because you want to know whether this guy who come is first time or etc...

tommychi

how would i do this, like the coding?? once again, im sorry but im a real n00b at this stuff...

jimson

see this page..
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.setcookie.php
and try their example code.. then you will understand.