php-doc-en/reference/array/functions/array-rand.xml

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  <refentry id="function.array-rand">
   <refnamediv>
    <refname>array_rand</refname>
    <refpurpose>
     Pick one or more random entries out of an array
    </refpurpose>
   </refnamediv>
   <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>
     <methodsynopsis>
      <type>mixed</type><methodname>array_rand</methodname>
      <methodparam><type>array</type><parameter>input</parameter></methodparam>
      <methodparam choice="opt"><type>int</type><parameter>num_req</parameter></methodparam>
     </methodsynopsis>
    <para>
     <function>array_rand</function> is rather useful when you want to
     pick one or more random entries out of an array. It takes an
     <parameter>input</parameter> array and an optional argument
     <parameter>num_req</parameter> which specifies how many entries you
     want to pick - if not specified, it defaults to 1.
    </para>
    <para>
     If you are picking only one entry, <function>array_rand</function>
     returns the key for a random entry. Otherwise, it returns an array
     of keys for the random entries. This is done so that you can pick
     random keys as well as values out of the array.
    </para>
    
    &note.randomseed;

    <para>
     <example>
      <title><function>array_rand</function> example</title>
      <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
srand((float) microtime() * 10000000);
$input = array("Neo", "Morpheus", "Trinity", "Cypher", "Tank");
$rand_keys = array_rand($input, 2);
echo $input[$rand_keys[0]] . "\n";
echo $input[$rand_keys[1]] . "\n";
?>
]]>
      </programlisting>
     </example>
    </para>
    <para>
     See also <function>shuffle</function>.
    </para>
   </refsect1>
  </refentry>

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