Avatar Random-ness code.

[DeanWhitehouse]

Can anyone see a way to make a better way of making sure that the same avatar doesn't appear in a row.

 

e.g.

pic1 then pic2 then pic2.

 

My code work's but i think there are better ways to do it.

<?php
session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION['random']))// check for the session that contains the random number used for the previous avatar then unset it.
{
unset($_SESSION['random']);//unset the session
}
// fill the list with avatars, each seperated by a comma
$avatars = array(
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/7/78/7865.jpg",
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/6/66/6687.gif",
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/4/45/4578.gif",
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/13/137/13746.gif",
"http://i9.tinypic.com/6su42nt.gif",
"http://i8.tinypic.com/6ob6qv8.gif"
);
$avatar_amount = count($avatars);//set the amount of avatars there are in the list

$_SESSION['random'] = rand(0,$avatar_amount);//generate the random avatar number 

if(!isset($_SESSION['num']))//check if there was a previous avatar number
{
$_SESSION['num'] = $_SESSION['random'];//if not then create one
}

function random_check()
{	
if($_SESSION['num'] == $_SESSION['random'])//check if the previous avatar number is the same as the current one, if so generate a new one,
{
	$_SESSION['random'] = rand(0,$avatar_amount);
	random_check();
}
return true;
}	

header("content-type: image/gif");//set the header for gifs, the common avatar image type


if(random_check())//run the function to check the avatar numbers
{
echo readfile($avatars[$_SESSION['random']]);//print the avatar
}
$_SESSION['num'] = $_SESSION['random'];// set the old session number to the current one.
?>

[Third_Degree]

that's a lot of code

 

<?php
$avatars = array(
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/7/78/7865.jpg",
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/6/66/6687.gif",
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/4/45/4578.gif",
"http://www.avatarity.com/avatars/13/137/13746.gif",
"http://i9.tinypic.com/6su42nt.gif",
"http://i8.tinypic.com/6ob6qv8.gif"
);
shuffle($array);
header("content-type: image/gif");
foreach($avatars as $tar) {
echo readfile($tar);
}
?>

 

I do believe that's all you need.  If that's not what you're looking for let me know.

[DeanWhitehouse]

OK, first off i believe your foreach loop will cause an error, as i only want one image shown each time, and second off that is what my code did look like, but i found it was showing the same image after it's self a lot, that's what my code now stops, but i think it is inefficient.

[Third_Degree]

ah, i understand now. um, you could try a long pre-set random list.

 

also, if the same image was appearing over and over, the browser may have cached the file.

 

Just add the lines:

header('Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate');
header('Cache-Control: pre-check=0, post-check=0, max-age=0');

[chmpdog]

This is an easy fix. just use $_SESSION

 

if ($_SESSION['ID'] == $_SESSION['random']) {
$_SESSION['ID'] = $_SESSION['ID'] - 1;
}