Randomize numbers in VB.NET without using a range i.e. Min and Max

Question

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction please? Say I am pulling the following table, I would then like to select an ID randomly. I understand how to select a random number using a Randomize() call followed by the relevant syntax but I want to pre-define the range.

i.e. Table Data

ID | Name

4345 Mike

3456 Lee

4567 John

There will be many more names but for this example you could use 3 or 4 etc..

Please help I'm starting to itch :o|

Answer 1

Just to make sure I understand what you want:

Given a table, you want to randomly select one of the ID values from that table.

If so, this should do it:

Dim rand As New Random()
Dim record As Integer = rand.[Next](0, myDataTable.Rows.Count)
Dim randomID As Integer = CInt(myDataTable.Rows(record)("ID"))

We have all the information we need to randomly select a row, and by extension randomly select one of the ID values in the table.

Answer 2

In old Vb you would do

    Dim i as integer 

   i = (Rnd * (maxval-minval)) + minval

Since rnd returns a random number between 0 and 1 you would scale the number to the right range.