Random

[webmasternovis]

Hi all,

In my database I've got a few records, all with a "weight". The higher the weight, the more likely it is that this record will be shown - or thats what I'm trying to make it do.

Does anyone know how I could do this? I've looked into rand() but I don't think that will work.

Thanks,
Mike

[lazzerous]

select a random number between 0&x (x could possibly be half of the highest id num)

with that number (we'll call it $start_num), select a random number between $start)num and the highest id num (max(id))

$x = $row['max(id)'] / 2;
$start_num = rand(0,$x);
$random_id = rand($start_num,$row['max(id)']);

[webmasternovis]

Thanks for your reply....

How could that final value be used to determine which record is being shown?

Thanks a lot,
Mike

[lazzerous]

The resulting number would be the id number of the entry to show.

[wilku]

Search in these forums for "rand weight" - there are some answers there. Search button is at the top-right corner.

[xblue]

Maybe this is sufficient for your needs?

SELECT whatever
FROM table
ORDER BY RAND( )*weightcolumn DESC