RAND() function in MySql

I was trying to use this query to get a random row from the database:

$myRandom = "SELECT * FROM MYTABLE ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1";

and I couldn’t figure out why it would continually get the previous number instead of some random number.

Ahh, but look what’s at the bottom of the page. ;)

“As of MySQL 3.23.52, MySQL changed the way RAND() functions, such that you MUST supply a SEED to get an actual random number. If you do not, each new connection will return close to the same number as the previous new connection. An example to test this would be to run the follow command multiple times in a row. mysql -u username -p -e’select rand()’ A basic way to seed this would be to run RAND(NOW()).”

So now I know, I must provide a random seed. ;)

Source: http://www.mysql.com

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