PHP generates random usernames

Question

I perform a small function to generate random usernames, for example:

public static function nicknames($data) { if ($data['request'] == 'nickAvailable') { foreach ($data as $value) if (is_array($value)) $nick = $value['nickname']; $random = rand(2, 2); $nickname = $nick . '_' . $random; $count = 3; $nicknames = array(); for ($i = 1; $i <= $count; $i++) { $select = self::$db->select('users', 'nickname', array('nickname' => $nickname)); if (count($select) == 0) { $nicknames[] = $nickname; } else { $count = $count + 1; } } $array = array("status" => 0, "errors" => $nicknames, "data" => array()); model::json($array); } } 

The only problem I encountered is that $random only executes once, and not in every loop. I need the array to have 3 different usernames and they must be different from each other. How can I change my code to achieve this? Thanks for any suggestion.

Answer 1

Place the random number generator and the alias string variable at the beginning of your loop. Also increase the range of numbers returned by rand, since it will always return 2 at the moment

 $usernames = array(); do { // inside generate random number, // build nickname, // query to see if its taken, // and if NOT taken, add to the usernames array } while(count($usernames) < 3); 

Answer 2

You are not currently generating a random number.

 $random = rand(2, 2); 

It will always be 2 .

Here's how I would do it:

 for ($i = 1; $i <= $count; $i++) { $random = rand(1, 3); $nickname = $nick . '_' . $random; $select = self::$db->select('users', 'nickname', array('nickname' => $nickname)); if (count($select) == 0) { $nicknames[] = $nickname; } else { $count = $count + 1; } } 

Hope this helps!