How do I create a random number in PHP?

I am working on a project that requires each article to be assigned a unique nine-digit ID number that will be stored in a mySQL database along with some other info. I know I can use the PRIMARY KEY function to make sure it's unique in mySQL but my problem lies in the fact that I don't know how to generate a random 9-digit number in PHP! Can someone please help me out here? Thanks.

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Alex
(http://www.alex-greg.co.uk)

Have a look at the various random number functions at:
http://www.php.net/manual/function.srand.php

The point you're missing is that it always has to be nine digits long: with no zeros at the start. How do I do this?

Doesn't rand (100000000, 999999999) work?

OK that now works, thanks, but the number stays the same even when I refresh the page: how can I get it so that the number's different each time?

You should be able to find that information at the link scollo posted..

Why not just generate a number based on the current date, time, & second? It also might provide a useful way of tracking items later.

OK, how does that work? Don't forget you're dealing with a novice here!

Hi Alex,

Sorry. Didn't mean to frustrate you. You need to call the srand() function before you call the rand() function. This causes the number to be different every time.

Try this:

srand (time());
$iNum = rand (100000000, 999999999);

-- Christopher

Sweet, it works. Thanks guys!

[Topic closed]