I would add that a common way to generate a random number
between 1 and x is:
mynumber = int( rand() * x ) + 1
As far as an online reference, you HAVE to bookmark this site:
http://www.sqlprogrammer.com/manuals/helpsql/helpsql.html
Regards
Tom Nunamaker
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Justin MacCarthy wrote:
>
> >From BOL- mathematical functions....
>
> Using RAND
> The RAND function calculates a random floating point number between 0 and 1,
> and can optionally take a tinyint, int, or smallint value for the starting
> point of the random number to calculate.
>
> This example calculates two random numbers. The first RAND() function lets
> Microsoft® SQL ServerT pick the seed value, and the second RAND() function
> uses the value of 3 for the starting position.
>
> SELECT RAND(), RAND(3)
>
> The RAND function is a pseudorandom number generator that operates in a
> manner similar to the C run-time library rand function. If no seed is
> provided, the system generates its own variable seed numbers. If you call
> RAND with a seed value, you must use variable seed values to generate random
> numbers. If you call RAND multiple times with the same seed value, it
> returns the same generated value. This script returns the same value for the
> calls to RAND because they all use the same seed value:
>
> SELECT RAND(159784)
> SELECT RAND(159784)
> SELECT RAND(159784)
> A common way to generate random numbers from RAND is to include something
> relatively variable as the seed value, such as adding several parts of a
> GETDATE:
> SELECT RAND( (DATEPART(mm, GETDATE()) * 100000 )
> + (DATEPART(ss, GETDATE()) * 1000 )
> + DATEPART(ms, GETDATE()) )
>
> When you use an algorithm based on GETDATE to generate seed values, RAND can
> still generate duplicate values if the calls to RAND are made within the
> interval of the smallest datepart used in the algorithm. This is especially
> likely if the calls to RAND are included in a single batch. Multiple calls
> to RAND in a single batch can be executed within the same millisecond, which
> is the smallest increment of DATEPART. In this case, incorporate a value
> based on something other than time to generate the seed values.
>
> See Also
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2000 1:20 PM
> Subject: OT: SQL 7 Functions
>
> >
> > Where do I find a list of functions for SQL 7?
> > Specifically today I'm looking for equivalent to CF Randrange():
> > SELECT TOP 1000 *
> > FROM users
> > WHERE ID IN (randrange(1, 30000))
> > But there has to be a list somewhere. I'm getting
> > frustrated looking through the online help.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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