Dick Kriesel wrote:
> command shuffle @rLines
> sort rLines by random( 4294967295 ) -- note: 2^32-1
> end shuffle
Wouldn't that put the probability of sorting bottom-to-top unusually
high, since there the odds are 4294967292-to-1 that the sort integer
will exceed the number of lines in the list?
Chris Sheffield originally wrote:
> I have a list of three words that I need to be randomly sorted.
> To start with, the first word is the correct answer to a question.
> I want to re-order the list so that the correct answer may be the
> second or third word, and not necessarily the first.
If we were to do this manually, we'd do something like:
1. Put a random line out of three lines into a new list.
This leaves us with two remaining lines, so:
2. Put a random line out of two lines after the new list.
This leaves us with just one so:
3. Put the remaining line at the bottom of the new list.
On a field containing lines with "rat", "cat", and "bat", this simple
script provides a reasonable distribution of results:
on mouseUp
put fld 1 into tList
put random(3) into n
put line n of tList into tNewList
delete line n of tList
put random(2) into n
put cr& line n of tList after tNewList
delete line n of tList
put cr& line 1 of tList after tNewList
put tNewList into fld 2
end mouseUp
I wouldn't use such a crude method for a long list, but for just three
lines it seems to get the job done.
Did I miss something in the original problem statement?
--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World
LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FourthWorldSys
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