I need a 16 digit unique number. I can use the following 2 examples, Which will generate more unique numbers?
<?php>
$a=rand(1000000000000000,9999999999999999);
$b=rand(1000,9999).rand(1000,9999).rand(1000,9999).rand(1000,9999);
echo($a);
echo($b);
?>
The first will generate more random numbers simply because it will allow "0" in 3 additional spots that the second won't.
$a is more random for it can have all zeros except at the placement of preceding 1 - whereas $b can't.
But that's not my point
Your $b statement indicates that your random number can well be a string.
So why not expanding your range by padding zeros to make it still 16 digits?
$a = str_pad(rand(0,9999999999999999), 16, "0", STR_PAD_LEFT);
There are additional 1000000000000000 possibilities here.
$a=rand(1000000000000000,9999999999999999);
Creates one number in the range from 1000000000000000 to 9999999999999999 which makes a total of 8999999999999999 possible numbers.
$b=rand(1000,9999).rand(1000,9999).rand(1000,9999).rand(1000,9999);
Creates 4 numbers from 1000 to 9999 which makes a total of 8999 * 8999 * 8999 * 8999 = 6558084485964001 numbers.
First variation will produce about 37% more possible numbers compared with second solution.
This will create one random 16-digit number from 0000000000000000 to 9999999999999999:
$c = sprintf('%016d',rand(0,9999999999999999));
Related
I need to generate three different random numbers without repeating, Three different random numbers need to be within 10 of the answer
for the sample IQ Question: 4,6 ,9,6,14,6,... Ans:19
A: random numbers
B: random numbers
C: random numbers
D: random numbers
one of them is the answer
I am now using the following code but sometimes the numbers are repeated, I have tried shuffle But which one is really random cannot satisfy random numbers need to be within 10 of the answer
$ans = $row['answer'];
$a = rand (1,10);
$a1 = rand($ans-$a ,$ans+$a);
$a2 = rand($ans-$a ,$ans+$a);
$a3 = rand($ans-$a ,$ans+$a);
As shown in previous answers (e.g. Generating random numbers without repeats, Simple random variable php without repeat, Generating random numbers without repeats) you can use shuffle to randomise a range, and then pick three items using array_slice.
The difference in your case is how you define the range:
Rather than 1 to 10, you want $ans - 10 to $ans + 10
You want to exclude the right answer
One way to build that is as two ranges: lower limit up to but not including right answer, and right answer + 1 up to upper limit.
function generate_wrong_answers($rightAnswer) {
// Generate all wrong guesses from 10 below to 10 above,
// but miss out the correct answer
$wrongAnswers = array_merge(
range($rightAnswer - 10, $rightAnswer - 1),
range($rightAnswer + 1, $rightAnswer + 10)
);
// Randomise
shuffle($wrongAnswers);
// Pick 3
return array_slice($wrongAnswers, 0, 3);
}
I have the necessity to store many numbers (i can decide which numbers) as a single unique number from which i should be able to retrieve the original number.
I already know 2 ways to do this:
1) Fundamental theorem of arithmetic (Prime Numbers)
Say i have 5 values, i assign a prime number other than 1 to each value
a = 2
b = 3
c = 5
d = 7
e = 13
If i want to store a, b and c i can multiply them 2*3*5=30 and i know no other product of primes can be 30. Then to check if a value contains, for example, b, all i need to do is 30 % b == 0
2) Bitmask
Just like Linux permissions, use powers of 2 and sum each value
But these 2 methods grow up fast (1st way faster than 2nd), and using prime numbers requires me to have a lot of primes.
Is there any other method to do this efficiently when you have, for example, a thousand values?
If you are storing, say, base 10 numbers, then do a conversion through base 11 numbers. With the increased base, you have an extra 'digit'. Use that digit as a separator. So, three base 10 numbers "10, 42, 457" become "10A42A457": a single base 11 number (with 'A' as the additional digit).
Whatever base your original numbers are in, increase the base by 1 and concatenate, using the extra digit as a separator. That will give you a single number in the increased base.
That single number can be stored in whatever number base you find convenient: binary, denary or hex for example.
To retrieve your original numbers just convert to base 11 (or whatever) and replace the extra digit with separators.
ETA: You don't have to use base 11. The single number "10A42A457" is also a valid hexadecimal number, so any base of 11 or above could be used. Hex may be easier to work with than base 11.
Is there any other method to do this efficiently when you have, for example, a thousand values?
I an not a mathematician but it's basic math, all depends on range
Range 0-1: You want to store 4 numbers 0-1 - it's basically binary system
Number1 + Number2 * 2^1 + Number3 * 2^2 + Number4 * 2^3
Range 0-50 You want to store 4 numbers 0-49
Number1 + Number2 * 50^1 + Number3 * 50^2 + Number4 * 50^3
Range 0-X You want to store N numbers 0-X
Number1 + Number2 * (X+1)^1 + Number3 * (X+1)^2 + ... + NumberN * (X+1)^(N-1)
If you have no pattern for your numbers (so it can get compressed in some way) there is really no other way.
It's also super easy for computer to resolve the number unlike the prime numbers
Predetermined values
#FlorainK comment pointed me to fact I missed
(i can decide which numbers)
The only logical solution is give your numbers references
0 is 15342
1 is 6547
2 is 76234
3 is "i like stack overflow"
4 is 42141
so you'll work range 0-4 (5 options) and whatever combination length. Use reference when "encoding" and "decoding" the number
a thousand values?
so you'll work with Range 0-999
0 is 62342
1 is 7456345653
2 is 45656234532
...
998 is 7623452
999 is 4324234326453
Let's say you use 64-bit system and programming/db language that works with 64-bit integers
2^64 = 18446744073709551616
your max range is 1000^X < 18446744073709551616 where X is number of numbers you can store in one single 64-bit integer number
Which is only 6.
You can store only 6 separate numbers 0-999 that will fit one 64-bit integer number.
0,0,0,0,0,0 is 0
1,0,0,0,0,0 is 1
0,1,0,0,0,0 is 1000
999,999,999,999,999,999 is ~1e+18
Ok so you want to store "a,b,c" or "a,b" or "a,b,c,d" or "a" etc. (thanks #FlorianK)
in such case just could use bitwise operators and powers of two
$a = 1 << 0; // 1
$b = 1 << 1; // 2
$c = 1 << 2; // 4
$d = 1 << 3; // 8
.. etc
let's say $flag has $a and $c
$flag = $a | $c; // $flag is integer here
now check it
$ok = ($flag & $a) && ($flag & $c); // true
$ok = ($flag & $a) && ($flag & $b); // false
so in 64 bit system/language/os you can use up to 64 flags which gives you a 2^64 combinations
there is no really other option. prime numbers are much worse for this as you skip many numbers in-between while binary system uses every single number.
I see you are using database and you want to store this in DB.
I really think we are dealing here with XY Problem and you should reconsider your application instead of making such workarounds.
Algorithm:
Given a number n, list(L(n)) of all binary numbers of size n can be calculated from L(n-1) in the following way:
Suppose array L(n-1) contains all the binary numbers of length n-1.
Reverse L(n-1) and call RL(n-1).
Append '0' to all binary numbers in L(n-1). Append '1' to all binary numbers in RL(n-1).
Merge new appended arrays L(n-1) and RL(n-1) to get all the binary numbers of size n.
Base Case,
if n=1, output = [0,1].
Example, if n=2, We can get list of all binary numbers of size 2 in the following way:
Let a = [0,1] be list of binary numbers of size (2-1) = 1.
Let b = reverse of a = [1,0].
Append 0 to all elements in a. New a = [00,11].
Append 1 to all elements in b. New b = [11,10].
Merge new a and b. [00,11,11,10].
Problem Statement: Given a number n, find list of n binary numbers.
Solution: A simple recursive or non-recursive solution works if n is less than 20.
Question: My code fails if a bigger number is passed lets say 40 and exceeds memory limits.
Why? - 'Coz For a number lets say 40, Total number of binary numbers will be power(2,40) which is huge(1048576 * 1048576).
So, Is there any better algorithm or way to solve the above problem?
What you can do is store only first n numbers. It seems that in every case you only need first n-1 numbers to only reverse and append with '1's for the correct output.
I need to create a function which takes a single integer as argument in the range 0-N and returns a seemingly random number in the same range.
Each input number should always have exactly one output and it should always be the same.
Such a function would produce something like this:
f(1) = 4
f(2) = 1
f(3) = 5
f(4) = 2
f(5) = 3
I believe this could be accomplished by some kind of a hashing algorithm? I don't need anything complex, just not something too simple like f(1) = 2, f(2) = 3 etc.
The biggest issue is that I need this to be reversible. E.g. the above table should be true left-to-right as well as right-to-left, using a different function for the right-to-left conversion is fine.
I know the easiest way is to create an array, shuffle it and just store the relations in a db or something, but as I need N to be quite large I'd like to avoid this if possible.
Edit: For my particular case N is a specific number, it's exactly 16777216 (64^4).
If the range is always a power of two -- like [0,16777216) -- then you can use exclusive-or just as #MarkBaker suggested. It just doesn't work so easily if your range is not a power of two.
You can use addition and subtraction modulo N, although these alone are too obvious, so you have to combine it with something else.
You can also do multiplication modulo-N, but reversing that is complicated. To make it simpler, we can isolate the bottom eight bits and multiply those and add them in a way that doesn't interfere with those bits so we can use them again to reverse the operation.
I don't know PHP so I'm going to give an example in C, instead. Maybe it's the same.
int enc(int x) {
x = x + 4799 * 256 * (x % 256);
x = x + 8896843;
x = x ^ 4777277;
return (x + 1073741824) % 16777216;
}
And to decode, play the operations back in reverse order:
int dec(int x) {
x = x + 1073741824;
x = x ^ 4777277;
x = x - 8896843;
x = x - 4799 * 256 * (x % 256);
return x % 16777216;
}
That 1073741824 must be a multiple of N, and 256 must be a factor of N, and if N is not a power of two then you can't (necessarily) use exclusive-or (^ is exclusive-or in C and I assume in PHP too). The other numbers you can fiddle with, and add and remove stages, at your leisure.
The addition of 1073741824 in both functions is to ensure that x stays positive; this is so that the modulo operation doesn't ever give a negative result, even after we've subtracted values from x which might have made it go negative in the interim.
I offered to describe how I "randomly" scramble up 9-digit SSNs when producing research data sets. This does not replace or hash an SSN. It re-orders the digits. It is difficult to put the digits back in the correct order if you don't know the order in which they were scrambled. I have a gut feeling that this is not what the questioner really wants. So, I am happy to delete this answer if it is deemed off-topic.
I know that I have 9 digits. So, I start with an array that has 9 index values in order:
$a = array(0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8);
Now, I need to turn a key that I can remember into a way to shuffle the array. The shuffling has to be the same order for the same key every time. I use a couple tricks. I use crc32 to turn a word into a number. I use srand/rand to get a predictable order of random values. Note: mt_rand no longer produces the same sequence of random digits with the same seed, so I have to use rand.
srand(crc32("My secret key"));
usort($a, function($a, $b) { return rand(-1,1); });
The array $a still has the digits 0 through 8, but they are shuffled. If I use the same keyword I will get the same shuffled order every time. That lets me repeat this every month and get the same result. Then, with a shuffled array, I can pick the digits off the SSN. First, I ensure it has 9 characters (some SSNs are sent as integers and a leading 0 is omitted). Then, I build a masked SSN by picking the digits using $a.
$ssn = str_pad($ssn, 9, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT);
$masked_ssn = '';
foreach($a as $i) $masked_ssn.= $ssn{$i};
$masked_ssn will now have all the digits in $ssn, but in a different order. Technically, there are keywords that make $a become the original ordered array after shuffling, but that is very very rare.
Hopefully this makes sense. If so, you can do it all much faster. If you turn the original string into an array of characters, you can shuffle the array of characters. You just need to reseed rand every time.
$ssn = "111223333"; // Assume I'm using a proper 9-digit SSN
$a = str_split($ssn);
srand(crc32("My secret key"));
usort($a, function($a, $b) { return rand(-1,1); });
$masked_ssn = implode('', $a);
This is not really faster in a runtime way because rand is a rather expensive function and you run rand a hell of lot more here. If you are masking thousands of values as I do, you will want to use an index array that is shuffled just once, not a shuffling for every value.
Now, how do I undo it? Assume I'm using the first method with the index array. It will be something like $a = {5, 3, 6, 1, 0, 2, 7, 8, 4}. Those are the indexes for the original SSN in the masked order. So, I can easily build the original SSN.
$ssn = '000000000'; // I like to define all 9 characters before I start
foreach($a as $i=>$j) $ssn[$j] = $masked_ssn{$i};
As you can see, $i counts from 0 to 8 across the masked SSN. $j counts 5, 3, 6... and puts each value from the masked SSN in the correct place in the original SSN.
Looks like you've got good answer, but still there is an alternative. Linear Congruential Generator (LCG) could provide 1-to-1 mapping and it is known to be a reversible using Euclid's algorithm. For 24bit
Xi = [(A * Xi-1) + C] Mod M
where M = 2^24 = 16,777,216
A = 16,598,013
C = 12,820,163
For LCG reversability take a look at Reversible pseudo-random sequence generator
I have a question regarding number formating in PHP.
I have a variable called "average", which is simply an average of a few values. To make it clear I rounded the number to 2 decimal places. Now the problem is, that if the average is for example 2.90, it only shows 2.9. Is there any way of displaying 2 decimal places always? I though I could do it by multiplying the number by 100, rounding it to zero d.p. and then divide by 100 again, but that seems a bit overcomplicated if there is an easier way of doing it.
Maybe you can try the number_format(float $number [, int $decimals = 0 ])?
For more information, take a look at http://php.net/manual/en/function.number-format.php
Format the output with printf
printf("%.1f", $num); // prints 1 decimal place
printf("%.2f", $num); // prints 2 decimal places