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Generating random 6 digit numbers

  • December 30, 2008 at 6:36 am

    #918992

    I found that generating random numbers is a task best done in code. Generating random numbers in SQL betrays a pattern, which makes repetitive executions predictable.

  • December 30, 2008 at 8:48 am

    #919084

    Jeff Moden (12/29/2008)

    The cast to VarBinary takes more time, Michael. That's the way I used to do it before Peter Larson and Matt Miller showed me this other way.

    I actually had more concerns about how random the distribution of numbers would be in this case, since the largest possible integer is only 2,147 times 999,999, while the largest 7 byte BIGINT is 4,503,604,130 times larger than 999,999.

    I don’t think it would be easy to test the randomness of the distribution without running massive Monte Carlo simulations to see if there was any pattern.

  • December 30, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    #919391

    Yeah... you're right on both counts... not enough coffee here... 😉

    --Jeff Moden

    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.
    "Change is inevitable... change for the better is not".
    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)
    Intro to Tally Tables and Functions

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