very basic shuffle() help required

roly

Bit of a newbie question i'm afraid.... I'm reading an uploaded file into an array, which works ok, but i then want to shuffle the array. i've checked php manual but i'm a little confused. this is what i have currently, but it doesn't work. any help appreciated.

basically i want $words2 to be exactly the same as $words1 but the order within the array shuffled.

$words = file("$userfile");
srand ((float)microtime()*1000000);
$words2 = shuffle($words);

any ideas where i'm going wrong? thanks in advance.

roland

dbchip2000

Make sure you are reading the appropriate file and that you have the directory references in place. So instead of just $userfile maybe something like "C:\uploads\users\".$userfile To make sure you are reading the file, echo(count($words)) and see if that is the right number of lines. Just a though

Also, know that the file() function keeps the \r\n or returns in the values

trooper

whats the error you are getting

You are using the correct function (shuffle)

Let us know

roly

Originally posted by trooper
whats the error you are getting

You are using the correct function (shuffle)

Let us know

GM

it doesn't give me an error, but it loses all the data. if i have

$words = file("$userfile");

and then the rest of my script carries on it does exactly what i want.

but if i have

$word = file("$userfile");
srand ((float)microtime()*1000000);
$words = shuffle($word);

it loses all my data in the $words array 😕

roly

Originally posted by dbchip2000
Make sure you are reading the appropriate file and that you have the directory references in place. So instead of just $userfile maybe something like "C:\uploads\users\".$userfile To make sure you are reading the file, echo(count($words)) and see if that is the right number of lines. Just a though

Also, know that the file() function keeps the \r\n or returns in the values

yes it is definately reading the correct file, my whole script works until i add the shuffle part. Any other ideas anyone?

roly

thanks for all the previous help. i've got it to work by shuffling the order later in the script just before re-writing the file. why this works later and not where i was trying it i don't know but all part of the learning process i guess. whilst trying to find a solution i came across a function someone had posted that i used, that is apparently more reliable than shuffle() i'll post it here incase anyone is interested.

function rand_cmp( $a, $b )
{
$num = (rand( 0, 2 )) - 1;
return round( $num );
}

$words = usort( $word, "rand_cmp");

HalfaBee

JFYI

shuffle( $word ) does not return an array, it just shuffles the array passed to it.

HalfaBee

roly

Originally posted by HalfaBee
JFYI

shuffle( $word ) does not return an array, it just shuffles the array passed to it.

HalfaBee

do you mean that when i shuffle an array the output is a string? (sorry for stupid questions)

HalfaBee

No, it doesn't return a string.
The definition of shuffle is
void shuffle ( array array)
It returns nothing, it just shuffles the array passed to it.

HalfaBee

From the manual

$numbers = range (1,20);
srand ((float)microtime()*1000000);
shuffle ($numbers);
while (list (, $number) = each ($numbers)) {
    echo "$number ";
}

roly

yes i understand now thanks for your help.

roland

HalfaBee

Not a Problem. 🙂

HalfaBee