Conver string into a random number

[dreamwest]

How can i create a random 10 digit number for a string

 

Original string:

$string = "She walks down the street";

 

String converted to number

 

$string = "She walks down the street";

//Randomly generated string
$new_string = 1234613401198208671;

$file = str_replace($string,$new_string ,$string);

[gevans]

what do you mean 'for a string' why not just create a random ten digit integer?

[dreamwest]

Ok thatll work....But how to create a random number??

[gevans]

<?php
function randInt($len=10) {
$randInt = NULL;
$randIntArray = range(0,9);
for($i=0;$i<$len;$i++) {
	$randInt .= $randIntArray[array_rand($randIntArray)];
}
return $randInt;
}
echo randInt();

[dreamwest]

Ive seen this somewhere

 

mt_rand( )

 

Will this do the same thing as say

 

time()

[corbin]

No.

 

mt_rand() is a (psuedo) random number.  time() is the number of seconds since 00:00 Jan 1, 1970.

 

 

[haku]

That's like asking if an apple will do the same thing as an orange. They are both fruit, and you can live if you eat them both, but they are different things altogether.

 

Those will both produces a number, same as apples and oranges will both produce flavors. But the first one will produce a random number, and the second one will produce the current unix timestamp.

[The Little Guy]

$num = rand(1000000000,9999999999);
echo $num;

[The Little Guy]

$num = rand(1000000000,9999999999);
echo $num;

 

nvm I don't think that will work, I tested it, and I never got anything that started with a 2+

 

but this will work:

<?php
function gen_rand($max = 10){
     $num = '';
     for($i=0;$i<$max;$i++){
          $num .= rand(0,9);
     }
     return $num;
}

echo gen_rand();
?>

[dreamwest]

No.

 

mt_rand() is a (psuedo) random number.  time() is the number of seconds since 00:00 Jan 1, 1970.

 

But still a random number. Sweet!

 

That's like asking if an apple will do the same thing as an orange. They are both fruit, and you can live if you eat them both, but they are different things altogether.

 

It was just an example...like an orange ad an apple - both are round.

 

Simple logic really

[haku]

time() isn't a random number at all. It is 100% predictable.

[.josh]

$num = rand(1000000000,9999999999);
echo $num;

 

nevermind I don't think that will work, I tested it, and I never got anything that started with a 2+

 

 

You are right; it won't work. rand generates a random 32 bit integer. 

[.josh]

No.

 

mt_rand() is a (psuedo) random number.  time() is the number of seconds since 00:00 Jan 1, 1970.

 

But still a random number. Sweet!

 

 

If you are wanting a 10 digit unique number and it doesn't matter if someone figures out the pattern etc.. then yes, time() will work for you.  But your OP was talking about "converting" a string to a number, which to me sounds like you are wanting to encrypt it.  If that is the case, simply picking a random number to take the place of the string does not encrypt it, all by itself.  You would have to keep a table of string => number  to know what the number stands for.

 

Perhaps if you posted what your goal here is, you might get an optimal solution.

[dreamwest]

Perhaps if you posted what your goal here is, you might get an optimal solution.

 

I want to add time() and mt_rand() together so when i rename a file to a number and insert the name into the database there wont be duplicate names, and it makes it harder for ppl to guess the file name and try and use a download manager or script to download the entire directory of files.

 

Currently im embedding content:

 

file=http://site.com/files/name_of_file.mpg

 

But i want to ultimately us this system:

 

file=http://site.com?video_key=random_key_here

 

Maybe a htaccess config might do...

[gevans]

Unless you expect to see more than one file upload at any one second just use time().

[haku]

Or if you are worried about more than one upload a second put an auto-incremented ID field in the table, and append the ID to the filename.