I guess so, but I dont think the difference would be all that great using rand() in php or "order by rand" in mysql.. worth checking up for "programmer show off" rights anyway :-) Cheers, Ryan > i guess a good question would be which one of these methods has more > > overhead - having php calculate the random numbers for queries, or > > having the mysql db pick them at random itself? i don't really focus > that much on optimization, but if you expect heavy traffic on your > site, it might be in your best interest to find out which one executes > quicker. > > > On Apr 8, 2005 9:41 AM, kyriacos sakkas <kyriacos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > first I would suggest you get the largest value from the auto increment > > field (maybe use last_insert_id()). Then use rand(1,$cno_max) three > > times to get three random cno numbers, then "select ... from ... where > > cno=$val1 or cno=$val2 or cno=$val3" should return the three values. > > rand() can also be directly in the sql statement. > > Also manual suggests using mt_rand instead of rand for better performance. > > > > K.Sakkas > > > > > > Ryan A wrote: > > > Hey, > > > need some advise on what would be the best way to do this: > > > > > > I have a table with these fields: > > > cno (just a auto_increment field), > > > username, > > > sex (2 values: man, woman), > > > has_pic (0=no,1=yes), -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.5 - Release Date: 4/7/2005 -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php