>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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