[RESOLVED] get_random.phtml not working with IE 7--HELP!

eabigelow

Hi--

I am using the following PHP code to retrieve a random text entry from a msg.dat file, but the code does not seem to work in IE 7 (but does work in FireFox, Mozilla, and Safari). It will generate two entries at random, and then it will continue to show the second entry without randomly picking any more. The code is:

<?php

srand((double)microtime()*1000000);
$filename="msg.dat";
$message=file($filename);
$select=rand(0, count($message)+1);

$msg = "msg=$message[$select]";
echo "$msg";

Does anyone have any idea of why this is happening, and even better, how to fix it? Many, many thanks for any help!!!!

laserlight

It will generate two entries at random, and then it will continue to show the second entry without randomly picking any more.

So on Firefox, Mozilla, and Safari it generates one entry at random, but in IE 7 it generates two entries at random? That is not possible with the given code.

Your code does have a logic error on this line:

$select=rand(0, count($message)+1);

It should be:

$select=rand(0, count($message)-1);

But I would just use [man]array_rand/man, e.g.,

<?php
$filename = 'msg.dat';

$messages = file($filename);
$message = $messages[array_rand($messages)];

echo 'msg=' . $message;
?>

eabigelow

Hi--

Thanks for your quick reply.

To clarify (if I can)--In Safari, etc., the get_random generates a continuous stream of randomly selected entries from the msg.dat file, one after the other; in IE 7 (and maybe earlier), the get_random will only generate 1-2 entries, and then it continues to only generate the last entry shown, again and again, in some sort of loop.

Just out of curiosity (I'm REALLY new to PHP, a rank beginner): I recently put a .htaccess file on the server to turn off magic quotes (using php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off). Could this have anything to do with the glitch?

Again, many thanks for any help!

laserlight

To clarify (if I can)--In Safari, etc., the get_random generates a continuous stream of randomly selected entries from the msg.dat file, one after the other; in IE 7 (and maybe earlier), the get_random will only generate 1-2 entries, and then it continues to only generate the last entry shown, again and again, in some sort of loop.

The thing is, the PHP code is executed server side. If somehow the output is not changing for IE 7, it implies that IE 7 is caching the page, which is unlikely for such a page.

Just out of curiosity (I'm REALLY new to PHP, a rank beginner): I recently put a .htaccess file on the server to turn off magic quotes (using php_flag magic_quotes_gpc off). Could this have anything to do with the glitch?

That is unrelated.

eabigelow

Hi, your code seems to have done the trick. Thanks so much--you're great!!!!🙂