How can i get random question from database ?

Question

Not really good at PHP/Mysql can someone can help ?

Comments

that is strange... must be a database thing - can you tell me what the collation is for your posts table?

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MySQL connection collation: utf8_general_ci. This is global i think.

MySQL charset: UTF-8 Unicode (utf8) (from another place)

Answer 1

What a neat idea... would make for a good plugin :)  This works (tested):

            $random_question = qa_db_read_one_assoc(
                qa_db_query_sub(
                    'SELECT * FROM ^posts WHERE type=$ ORDER BY rand() LIMIT 1',
                    'Q'
                ),
                true
            );

It returns an array of one question.

Comments

I tried:
            $rand = qa_db_read_one_value(
                qa_db_query_sub(
                    'SELECT MAX(postid) FROM ^posts'
                ),
                true
            );
            if(!$rand) return;
            $rand = rand()/getrandmax()*$rand;
            $random_question = qa_db_read_one_assoc(
                qa_db_query_sub(
                    'SELECT * FROM ^posts WHERE type=$ AND postid >= # LIMIT 1',
                    'Q',$rand
                ),
                true
            );

and it takes the same time as the above query, maybe a bit longer... I guess this way will be quicker with larger databases?

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Thank you! I'm using your plugin! Can I do this: Place of picking different questions, change the Unanswered Questions or Problems with the Best answer!