Re: Balancing randomness
This WebDNA talk-list message is from 2000
It keeps the original formatting.
numero = 27979
interpreted = N
texte = On 2/23/00 4:26 pm, Christer Olsson so noted...>I belive your first results are based on a bad formula: > >[math]pick=[format .0f][math]pick=(([random]/100)*4)+1[/math][/format][/math] > >The part [random]/100)*4)+1 does not do what I think you expect it to do. > >If [random] is from 1-12 (12 figures) your formula will result in 1 >If [random] is from 13-37 (25 figures) your formula will result in 2 >If [random] is from 38-61 (24 figures) your formula will result in 3 >If [random] is from 62-87 (26 figures) your formula will result in 4 >If [random] is from 88-100 (13 figures) your formula will result in 5Excellent call. I had been using [format .0f] as an integer function, which is wrong since [format] is rounding up, not just lopping off the decimal (resulting in the quantities of the end numbers being skewed -- 1 would hit 13 times, 5 would hit 12, the rest at 25).By changing the formula to use floor( )...[math]pick=floor(([random]/100)*5)+1[/math] On my loop of 1000, I get a *far* better distribution:1 = 190 (19%) 2 = 202 (20.2%) 3 = 199 (19.9%) 4 = 207 (20.7%) 5 = 202 (20.2%)Whoo hoo!Now to look through a few websites and find where else I've used my crappy random routine : )P.S. [random] on Mac WC 3.0.5b11 gives numbers from 0-99 -- should I be concerned?Rob Marquardt Designer/Resident Wirehead Toast Design800 Washington Avenue North Minneapolis MN 55401 612.330.9863 v 612.321.9424 f www.toastdesign.com ------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by CommuniGate Pro - The Buzz Word Compliant Messaging Server. To end your Mail problems go to
.This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list . To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to
Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:
On 2/23/00 4:26 pm, Christer Olsson so noted...>I belive your first results are based on a bad formula: > >[math]pick=[format .0f][math]pick=(([random]/100)*4)+1[/math][/format][/math] > >The part [random]/100)*4)+1 does not do what I think you expect it to do. > >If [random] is from 1-12 (12 figures) your formula will result in 1 >If [random] is from 13-37 (25 figures) your formula will result in 2 >If [random] is from 38-61 (24 figures) your formula will result in 3 >If [random] is from 62-87 (26 figures) your formula will result in 4 >If [random] is from 88-100 (13 figures) your formula will result in 5Excellent call. I had been using [format .0f] as an integer function, which is wrong since [format] is rounding up, not just lopping off the decimal (resulting in the quantities of the end numbers being skewed -- 1 would hit 13 times, 5 would hit 12, the rest at 25).By changing the formula to use floor( )...[math]pick=floor(([random]/100)*5)+1[/math] On my loop of 1000, I get a *far* better distribution:1 = 190 (19%) 2 = 202 (20.2%) 3 = 199 (19.9%) 4 = 207 (20.7%) 5 = 202 (20.2%)Whoo hoo!Now to look through a few websites and find where else I've used my crappy random routine : )P.S. [random] on Mac WC 3.0.5b11 gives numbers from 0-99 -- should I be concerned?Rob Marquardt Designer/Resident Wirehead Toast Design800 Washington Avenue North Minneapolis MN 55401 612.330.9863 v 612.321.9424 f www.toastdesign.com ------------------------------------------------------------- Brought to you by CommuniGate Pro - The Buzz Word Compliant Messaging Server. To end your Mail problems go to .This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list . To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to
Rob Marquardt
DOWNLOAD WEBDNA NOW!
Top Articles:
Talk List
The WebDNA community talk-list is the best place to get some help: several hundred extremely proficient programmers with an excellent knowledge of WebDNA and an excellent spirit will deliver all the tips and tricks you can imagine...
Related Readings:
Communigate+Webcat (2001)
Close-to Comparison Code (1998)
RE: protect tag on NT (1997)
Online reference (1997)
Stopping bad HTML propagation ? (1997)
Order not created error (never mind) (1997)
WebCat2b13MacPlugIn - [include] doesn't allow creator (1997)
Return records from another (1997)
Exclamation point (1997)
Newbie questions (1998)
Site builder (2004)
Max Record length (1997)
[HIDEIF] inside [FOUNDITEM] (1997)
Secure Sever and showcart errors (1997)
2.0.1 new commands and contexts (1997)
Adding Header Values with [SetHeader] (1998)
Email Formatting and Encryption (1998)
[include ...] behavior (1997)
WebSTAR 2.1 freezes my Mac (1997)
b12 cannot limit records returned and more. (1997)