Random rows

[karldesign]

Hi all,

 

I want to create a sql statement that returns the rows in a random order but will return all rows. It will never be more than 10 rows, so it shouldn't be too slow.

 

I do want to loop this though, so the rows need to be unique each time.

 

ie: I have rows 1-7 and I want to return them in a random order but don't duplicate (1, 5, 4, 2, 3, 7, 6 - is good 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 7, 3 - is bad)

[obsidian]

Just use ORDER BY RAND() in your SQL statement:

SELECT * FROM myTable ORDER BY RAND();

[fenway]

I guess if there aren't more than 10 records in the table, then sure... but if you're LIMITing it to 10, and there are hundreds/thousands of records, ORDER BY RAND() is crazy slow.