Randomize code?

[I Brian]

Sorry to ask a simple question, but I'm looking to randomise a display of content, which are called up with basic PHP include files.

So if there are 5 images, I'm calling them up as:

<!-- site content above --> 
<?PHP include("/home/user/public_html/section1.php"); ?> 
<?PHP include("/home/user/public_html/section2.php"); ?> 
<?PHP include("/home/user/public_html/section3.php"); ?> 
<?PHP include("/home/user/public_html/section4.php"); ?> 
<?PHP include("/home/user/public_html/section5.php"); ?>
<!-- footer below -->

How would I randomise with a script within the body itself?

Many thanks for any replies.

 

[nasaboy007]

do you want to randomize the section1, section2, section3, etc?

or do you want to randomize something INSIDE section1, section2, etc?

here's a link to the php random manual anyway: http://us3.php.net/rand

 

[Kate]

That's it rand() should do the trick.
I would do something like... (untested)

<!-- site content above --> 
<?PHP include("/home/user/public_html/section".rand(1,5).".php"); ?> 
<!-- footer below -->

 

[I Brian]

The trouble is trying to get the files 1-5 to be returned in a random order -

ie,

page load: file 5, file 3, file 1, file 4, file 2
refresh: file 3, file 2, file 5, file 1, file 4
refresh again: file 2, file 4, file 1, file 3, file 5

 

[dgaussin]

Something like that maybe...

<?php
srand((float) microtime() * 10000000);
$input = array("section1.php", "section2.php", "section3.php", "section4.php", "section5.php");
//$input = array_rand($input, sizeof($input));
foreach (array_rand($input, sizeof($input)) as $i) {
            include("/home/user/public_html/".$input[$i]); 
}
?>

 

[I Brian]

That worked dgaussin - many thanks for that.