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Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

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    Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

    Can anyone explain why the results of this loop does not result in a list with 365 values?

    Code:
    dim vnlc as N
    dim vLodds as C
    dim vrand as C=""
    for i = 1 to 365
    		
    	RANDODD:	
    	vrand=(""+int(rand()*1000))
    		'use only odd values
    		if mod(val(vrand),2)=1
    			'assure the value is unique
    			if vrand $ vLodds
    				GOTO RANDODD
    			end if
    		
    			vLodds=vLodds+PADL(vrand,3,"0")+crlf()
    
    		end if
    next
    vnlc=line_count(vLodds)
    msgbox("ODDS: "+(""+vnlc),vLodds)
    end
    Mike W
    __________________________
    "I rebel in at least small things to express to the world that I have not completely surrendered"

    #2
    Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

    'use only odd values
    There can be only one.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

      the code gave me even number too, so I removed the code.
      Last edited by GGandhi; 10-04-2016, 02:44 PM.
      thanks for reading

      gandhi

      version 11 3381 - 4096
      mysql backend
      http://www.alphawebprogramming.blogspot.com
      [email protected]
      Skype:[email protected]
      1 914 924 5171

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

        Why?
        Multiple reasons.
        See if you could decipher those reasons by looking at the following modifications which produce 365 every time:
        Code:
        dim vLodds as C
        dim vrand as C=""
        
        for i = 1 to 365
        		
        	RANDODD:	
        	vrand=(""+int(rand()*1000))
        		'use only odd values
        		if mod(val(vrand),2)=1
        			vrand=PADL(vrand,3,"0")
        			'assure the value is unique
        			if vrand $ vLodds
        				GOTO RANDODD
        				else
        				vLodds=vLodds+PADL(vrand,3,"0")+crlf()
        			end if
        		else
        			GOTO RANDODD
        
        		end if
        next
        vnlc=line_count(vLodds)
        msgbox(""+vnlc)
        'msgbox("ODDS: "+(""+vnlc),vLodds)
        end

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

          Alright, I will make it easy:
          Reason #1:
          You are comparing apples to oranges:
          You are looking to see if vrand exists in vLodds
          If it does, you go back to RANDODD
          If it does not ..well here is the first mistake..you don't just add it, you add padl(...vrand)..it may or may not be the same as you are generating random numbers from 1 to 1000
          The modification I made is to change vrand to PADL(..vrand..) and then look up to see if it exists

          Reason #2:
          You didn't tell the script what to do when it generates an even random number. So, it discards the even number and goes on to the for loop, which means, i go up by one and you exhaust the 365 loops before generating 365 odd random numbers.
          The modification I made: go back to RANDODD without looping through the for loop thus i does not change until an odd number is generated.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

            Code:
            dim vnlc as N = 0
            dim vLodds as C = ""
            dim vrand as C=""
            for i = 1 to 365
            		
            	RANDODD:	
            	vrand=(""+int(rand()*1000))
            		'use only odd values
            				if (mod(val(vrand),2)=0) 
            				GOTO RANDODD
            				end if
            
            				if vrand $ vLodds
            				goto RANDODD
            				end if
            		vLodds=vLodds+PADL(vrand,3,"0")+crlf()
            
            		
            next
            vnlc=line_count(vLodds)
            msgbox("ODDS: "+(""+vnlc),vLodds)
            end
            I did this way and it does produce 365 every time with odd values.

            edit:
            Gabriel has posted better looking code, just noticed.
            thanks for reading

            gandhi

            version 11 3381 - 4096
            mysql backend
            http://www.alphawebprogramming.blogspot.com
            [email protected]
            Skype:[email protected]
            1 914 924 5171

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

              I've never been fond of goto.

              Code:
              dim vnlc as N = 1
              dim vLodds as C = ""
              dim vrand as C=""
              while vnlc < 366
              		
              vrand=(""+int(rand()*1000))
              		'use only odd values
              		if mod(val(vrand),2)=1
              			'assure the value is unique
              			if vrand !$ vLodds
              				vLodds=vLodds+PADL(vrand,3,"0")+crlf()
              				vnlc = vnlc + 1
              			end if
              		end if
              end while
              vnlc=line_count(vLodds)
              msgbox("ODDS: "+(""+vnlc),vLodds)
              end
              There can be only one.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

                Only use odd numbers. Don't define what to do with even numbers. OK yes, I do feel a bit humiliated Thanks for all the comments. though.
                Mike W
                __________________________
                "I rebel in at least small things to express to the world that I have not completely surrendered"

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

                  Let make a corrections here:
                  The part about comparing apples to oranges that I mentioned earlier is not correct. Take a look at this:
                  Code:
                  ?"3" $ "003"
                  = .T.
                  But then you would have to wonder, if that's true, then any value that has 3 in it will be deemed as existing, which means, at best you could generate only 9 values even if you run the script until the cows come home.
                  So, how come that does not happen?
                  Your script as is does generate 100 semi odd values. How so?
                  Well, the values generated will mostly be 2 or 3 digits making it very hard to exist in another value, but then there is another reason:
                  rand() will generate a series, all the values in that series are unique.
                  With that said, why bother looking for an existing number?!
                  By checking using the $ function, it might be counter productive since it will deem 57 as existing if the list has, say 573.
                  Counterproductive in the sense that you will have to run the rand() one more time unnecessarily.

                  Now, if you want to be paranoid about this, you could keep the series as numeric (perhaps in an array) and after you make the comparison, convert to character.
                  Last edited by G Gabriel; 10-04-2016, 03:59 PM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

                    G,
                    Yeah, I took the route of doing the conversion to a three character character value (vrand=padl(""+int(rand()*1000)),3,"0") before checking for if it already exists. Thanks for sharing your insight!
                    Mike W
                    __________________________
                    "I rebel in at least small things to express to the world that I have not completely surrendered"

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Unexpected outcome with for loop and rand()

                      Not a fan of GoTO either. I only modified Mike's script to show where things went wrong, but if you want a more concise script, here is a function that will produce a specific and unique number of either odd or even values:
                      Code:
                      FUNCTION Rand_O_E AS C (O_E AS C, Number AS N, end as n)
                      dim lst as c=""
                      dim inc as n=1
                      	if O_E="O"
                      	      inc=0
                      	end if
                      for i=1 to number
                      x=int(rand()*end)
                      x=if(mod(x,2)=inc,x+1,x)
                      UniqueNameGet(lst,""+x)
                      lst=lst+x+crlf()
                      Rand_O_E=lst
                      next
                      END FUNCTION
                      Legend:
                      O_E: Odd or Even
                      Number: Number of values
                      End: Random number between 1 and "end"

                      Example1:
                      Produce 4 even values between 1 and 100:
                      Code:
                      ?rand_O_E("e",4,100)
                      = 48
                      72
                      44
                      12
                      Example 2:
                      Produce 6 odd values between 1 and 1000
                      Code:
                      ?rand_O_E("o",6,1000)
                      = 703
                      639
                      147
                      267
                      709
                      259

                      Comment

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