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Old Pedant · 11-25-2012, 10:59 PM

temp_table? t.f? Where did those come from, Bubikol???

And if there are only 4 records in temp_table, that will *NOT* get more than 4 records.

One simple answer:

Code:

SELECT X.* FROM 
  ( SELECT 1 AS dummy, * FROM table
    UNION
    SELECT 2 AS dummy, * FROM table
  ) AS X
WHERE X.jobcategory LIKE '%Admin%'
ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 5

But it's not terribly efficient.

I would be strongly tempted to do this in PHP/JSP/ASP code, instead.

Read the 4 records into an array and then just pick a random array element 5 times.

11-25-2012, 10:59 PM	PM User \| #3
Old Pedant Supreme Master coder! Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 23,542 Thanks: 62 Thanked 4,054 Times in 4,023 Posts	temp_table? t.f? Where did those come from, Bubikol??? And if there are only 4 records in temp_table, that will NOT get more than 4 records. One simple answer: Code: SELECT X.* FROM ( SELECT 1 AS dummy, * FROM table UNION SELECT 2 AS dummy, * FROM table ) AS X WHERE X.jobcategory LIKE '%Admin%' ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 5 But it's not terribly efficient. I would be strongly tempted to do this in PHP/JSP/ASP code, instead. Read the 4 records into an array and then just pick a random array element 5 times. __________________ An optimist sees the glass as half full. A pessimist sees the glass as half empty. A realist drinks it no matter how much there is.