Select a random value from an array after a selection from database - php

Question

I'm trying to get a random value from an array that is populated with data from the database. I'm selecting some products from the DB and display them on the front page, but i need to display different (random) producs everytime the page is reloaded.
$row = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM anunt WHERE lichidareStoc = 0 ORDER BY anuntID DESC") or die(mysql_error());
$row2 = mysql_fetch_assoc($row);
So, i think that $row2 is now an array, and has all the infos that i selected previously from the database. How do i select a random 'row' from that array now?
Thanks

Answer 1

You are looking for array_rand, see: http://php.net/manual/en/function.array-rand.php
Example:
$rand_key = array_rand($row2);
echo $row2[$rand_key]; // your random
You could also directly select a random row from your DB:
SELECT *
FROM anunt
WHERE lichidareStoc = 0
ORDER BY rand()
LIMIT 1
But be aware, this will reduce your performance, especially on bigger tables.
Side Note: mysql_* function are deprecated, use mysqli_* instead.

Answer 2

If you want to select a random entry, you could do something like this:
$myRows=array();
$row = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM anunt WHERE lichidareStoc = 0 ORDER BY anuntID DESC") or die(mysql_error());
while($row2 = mysql_fetch_assoc($row))
$myRows[]=$row2;
$randomEntry=$myRows[array_rand($myRows)];
If you wanted a random field of that entry though, you should use array_rand like Bernhard Poiss pointed out.
$row = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM anunt WHERE lichidareStoc = 0 ORDER BY anuntID DESC") or die(mysql_error());
$row2 = mysql_fetch_assoc($row);
$randomField=$row2[array_rand($row2)];

Answer 3

You will first want to populate an array of your results
$row = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM anunt WHERE lichidareStoc = 0 ORDER BY anuntID DESC") or die(mysql_error());
$rows = array();
while($rec = mysql_fetch_assoc($row)){
$rows[] = $rec;
}
Then you can select a random item using array_rand
$random = $rows[array_rand($rows)];