Question

I have been trying to select random items from an array without repeating the same item.

Sample Array

$images=array();
$images[]=array('img'=>'bands.jpg','cat'=>'bands.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'cake.jpg','cat'=>'cakes.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'catering.jpg','cat'=>'catering.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'dj.jpg','cat'=>'djs.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'dress.jpg','cat'=>'dress_attire.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'limos.jpg','cat'=>'limos_transportaion.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'photography.jpg','cat'=>'photography.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'venues.jpg','cat'=>'venues.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'wedding_planer.jpg','cat'=>'planning.php');

I have tried the following but for some reason it will not work correctly. It is only collecting the first items in the array to the count rendered.
// $adDisplay is a number between 1-9

$rand = array_rand($images, $adDisplay);
foreach($rand as $key => $value){
    echo'<a href="'.$images[$key]['cat'].'"><img src="img/banners/'.$images[$key]['img'].'" border="0" alt="" /></a>';
}

Answer 1

Many ways of doing this, I’d probably shuffle and then slice the array:

$images = array();
$images[]=array('img'=>'bands.jpg','cat'=>'bands.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'cake.jpg','cat'=>'cakes.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'catering.jpg','cat'=>'catering.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'dj.jpg','cat'=>'djs.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'dress.jpg','cat'=>'dress_attire.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'limos.jpg','cat'=>'limos_transportaion.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'photography.jpg','cat'=>'photography.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'venues.jpg','cat'=>'venues.php');
$images[]=array('img'=>'wedding_planer.jpg','cat'=>'planning.php');

shuffle($images);

$adDisplay = 5;

foreach( array_slice($images,0,$adDisplay) as $image){
    echo '<a href="' . htmlspecialchars($image['cat']) . '">'
         . '<img src="img/banners/'
         . htmlspecialchars($image['img']) . ' border="0" alt="" />'
         . '</a>';
}