generating a random alphanumeric code

[Busch]

whats the best way to generate a random, alphanumeric, upper and lowercase string?

thanks
eric

[vinyl-junkie]

mt_rand

Be sure to check out the examples in the documentation, as it shows you how to use this to generate a random string of letters and numbers.

[codyrockx]

I normally use something like this:

 function random_string($length) {
     $array = array_merge(range('a','z'), range('A','Z'));
 
     $string = '';
     for($i=1;$i<=$length;$i++) 
         $string .= $array[mt_rand(0,51)];
 
     return $string;
 
 } 

[Busch]

I normally use something like this:

 function random_string($length) {
     $array = array_merge(range('a','z'), range('A','Z'));
 
     $string = '';
     for($i=1;$i<=$length;$i++) 
         $string .= $array[mt_rand(0,51)];
 
     return $string;
 
 } 

that doesnt seem to generate any numbers. is it supposed to?

[codyrockx]

ah, forgot the numbers then you'd change this line

  $array = array_merge(range('a','z'), range('A','Z'), range(0,9)); 

[Jelena]

I use something like this to generate a random alphanumeric string.

$string = substr(md5(uniqid(rand(),1)), 0, 5); 

Of course you can modify substr call to suit your needs.