I need to generate a random number of non duplicated random number in plpgsql. The non duplicated number shall fall in the range of [1,1001]. However, the code generates number exceeding 1001.
directed2number := trunc(Random()*7+1);
counter := directed2number
while counter > 0
loop
to_point := trunc((random() * 1/directed2number - counter/directed2number + 1) * 1001 +1);
...
...
counter := counter - 1;
end loop;
If I understand right
- You need a random number (1 to 8) of random numbers.
- The random numbers span 1 to 1001.
- The random numbers need to be unique. None shall appear more than once.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION x.unique_rand_1001()
RETURNS SETOF integer AS
$body$
DECLARE
nrnr int := trunc(random()*7+1); -- number of numbers
BEGIN
RETURN QUERY
SELECT (1000 * random())::integer + 1
FROM generate_series(1, nrnr*2)
GROUP BY 1
LIMIT nrnr;
END;
$body$ LANGUAGE plpgsql VOLATILE;
Call:
SELECT x.unique_rand_1001();
Numbers are made unique by the GROUP BY
. I generate twice as many numbers as needed to provide enough numbers in case duplicates are removed. With the given dimensions of the task (max. 8 of 1001 numbers) it is astronomically unlikely that not enough numbers remain. Worst case scenario: viewer numbers are returned.
I wouldn't approach the problem that way in PostgreSQL. Something along these lines seems to make more sense.
-- Returns a random integer in the interval [n, m].
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION random_integer(integer, integer)
RETURNS integer AS
$BODY$
select trunc( $1 + (($2*random()) ))::integer
$BODY$
LANGUAGE sql VOLATILE
Then to select a single random integer between 1 and 1000,
select random_integer(1, 1000);
To select 100 random integers between 1 and 1000,
select random_integer(1, 1000)
from generate_series(1,100);