Here's my problem. I am trying to generate random numbers in the range of 1000000000-2000000000.

I use rnd.Next(1000000000, 2000000000) and everything is cool. I can refresh my page and get a new random number in that range. However, if I put this in a For...Next loop, the numbers are all the same.

The other interesting part to this is that if I go into debug mode and Step Into the code(loop through it 10 times), I get 10 different random numbers.

So to reiterate...
**I run the page - the numbers are all the same.
**I "Step Into" the page - the numbers are all different.

It almost seems as though the page is executing too fast for it to think up a new number - although that would be a human trait and not a computer's...eh?

Does anybody know why this is doing this? Thanks.

J

The loop is executing very fast when you are not debugging. The randomness is based on the clock.

I can't imagine why you are having this problem. I do the same thing (just with a smaller number set) and I get random numbers.

Peter
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Work smarter, not harder.

Usually its only the seed for the random number that's based on the clock. You should still get the next "random" number in the sequence each time you call it.

I also set it to loop 1000 times. Interestingly I got the same number about 20 times, then another number 15-20 times, etc.

Is it just me or is that pretty strange?? By the way, I am running VS.net 2003(new and improved)...

J

Well, I'm not sure, but...

In Visual Studio, I find that the "rnd()" fucntion has 0 or 1 arguments, not 2. And it doesn't have a ".Next" method because it isn't an object. And my VS.NET help facility says "Before calling Rnd, use the Randomize statement without an argument to initialize the random-number generator..."

But if you're passing 2 arguments and using ".Next", then you must be using the Random object. In which case you have to create a Random object with the constructor and then apply .Next to it.

If you're creating a new instance of Random each time, "if your application runs on a fast computer the system clock might not have time to change between invocations of theis constructor; the seed value might be the same for different instances of Random."

With the following code:

Dim i as integer, j(999) as integer
Dim x as random = new random

for i=0 to 999
j(i)=x.Next(1000000000,2000000000)
next i

I find that I get 1000 unique numbers. This is running on a fairly fast (2GHz) machine.

If this doesn't help, maybe you need to post more of your ASPX code.


-Van
(Old dog learning new tricks...)

Yes, I am using the Random object. I will try your suggestion and see what I get. Thanks.

J