If called without the optional min,
max arguments rand()
returns a pseudo-random integer between 0 and
RAND_MAX. If you want a random number
between 5 and 15 (inclusive), for example, use rand (5,
15).
Example 1. rand() example
<?php echo rand() . "\n";
echo rand() . "\n";
echo rand(5, 15); ?>
The above example will output something similar to:
7771
22264
11
Note:
On some platforms (such as Windows) RAND_MAX
is only 32768. If you require a range larger than 32768, specifying
min and max will allow
you to create a range larger than RAND_MAX, or consider using
mt_rand() instead.
Note: As of PHP 4.2.0, there is no need
to seed the random number generator with srand() or
mt_srand() as this is now done automatically.
Note:
In versions before 3.0.7 the meaning of
max was range. To
get the same results in these versions the short example should
be rand (5, 11) to get a random number
between 5 and 15.
