Storing HTML values in array

[a0101]

Hi, I need to generate a random array that stores various values. For example,

<form action="testscript.php" method="POST">
Value1:<input type = "text" name="value1">
Value2:<input type = "text" name="value2">
<?php
$valueone = $_POST['value1'];
$valuetwo = $_POST['value2'];
$number = random(1,10); //random value for array
$array[$number] = array($valueone,$valuetwo); //each array number is unique
?>
<input type="submit" name="submit">
</form>

However, I need to make it such that if an array already has values stored in it, it moves on to another random array until it finds an empty one.

Also,  since I would need to validate the form, I will require the random array number to remain the same upon submission of the form.

I've tried using a for loop:

for($i=0; $i<1000; $i++){
if(isset($array[$number])){ //if the array is set, since $number is unique, generate new array by randoming another number
$number = random(1,10); //random another value for array
} $i++; }

but it doesn't seem to work the way I want it to.

[requinix]

If you have an array already, shuffle it and pull the first N items from it.

[a0101]

I didn't use shuffle as I want my array to store values from the 100th position. So basically, array[0] -> array[99] are empty. I have a problem which is I am unable to capture the random number upon validation of the form. When I generate a random number say:

 

$rand = rand(100,999);

 

I want to be able to echo the same random number, instead when I submit the form, my code generates another random number. I can't use another variable to store the random number as again

 

$storage = $rand;

 

when I submit the form, $storage will also be the new random number instead of the old one.

Is there any way to capture the random number?

[TFT2012]

You may need an additional array to store the generated random number, like $array1 = array(); $array1[] = random(n, m); The last element in the $array1 will be the number you generate most recently.

[Barand]

if you are looking for an empty array index

 

    do {
       $i = rand(1,10);
    } while (isset($arr[$i]));