Question

I want to generate test data for testing. What I need:

I will have a list of 30 names. For each name I need to fill in the start and finish position. The position is between 1 and 30.

So I wanted to use RAND() in php but I have a problem what I can’t find a good way for.

Every position can only be used once. So if I press on a button “generate data” I want for all 30 names a start and finish position without duplicate position. So in the start i will use 1 – 30 and for the finish 1 – 30 as well.

I need this data in textfield. Is there a simple function for this? Or do you know how I can do this without having to fill in 60 textfields every test.

Answer 1

I will use shuffle (twice),

something like

$arr = range(1, 30);
$first_numbers_position = shuffle($arr);
$second_numbers_position = shuffle($arr);

if you have already array with the names
you can use this function

Very simple shuffle function preserving key with value

function shuffle_assoc( $array )
{
   $keys = array_keys( $array );
   shuffle( $keys );
   return array_merge( array_flip( $keys ) , $array );
}